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NOTES 



ON THE 



NORTHWEST, 



OR 



VALLEY OF THE UPPER MISSISIPPl 



COMPRISING THE COUNTRY BETWEEN LAKES SUPERIOR AND MICHIGAN, EAST; THE 

ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI RIVERS, AND THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE UNITED 

states; — INCLUDING IOWA AND WI SCONSIN, PART OF MICHIGAN NORTHWEST 

OF THE STRAITS OF MACKINAW, AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND MIi»SOURI. 



BY 



^ 



WM. J. A, BRADFORD. 




NEW YORK AND LONDON : 

WILEY AND PUTNAM. 



1S46. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by 
•WILEY AND PUTNAM, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. 



R. Craiohbad's Power Pre9»' 
113 Fulton Street 






INTRODUCTION. 



The present work covers, in part, new ground geographical- 
ly : — and differs in design, plan, and mode of treatment, 
from those that have before appeared descriptive of some 
portions of the district of which it treats. 

Though for more than a century and a half known to the 
French Missionaries, the voyageurs, and the coureurs des 
bois, and to those few who went out as discoverers and ex- 
plorers, yet it was almost wholly an unknown region to our 
American geographers only twenty years since. Mr. Darby, 
in his Gazetteer date 1827, says that much of the portion 
west of the Missisippi is unknown. 

Most of the books that have been published in relation to 
this country, have been designed only for guides to travellers 
and emigrants ; — and have consequently been subject, so far 
as the general reader has been concerned, to the twofold 
objection that they were too much in detail to be of interest 
to them, or to embody that kind of information, in that 
shape, that would be valuable ; — and also that by the rapid 
transitions constantly in progress in this part of the country, 
they very soon became antiquated and not to be confided in 



lY INTRODUCTION. 

for present information, and possess only the value of a past 
year's almanac ; the fate necessarily of books of mere details. 

The country of which the present volume treats is one of 
great interest intrinsically, and especially at this time when 
two new sovereignties are about to be established within its 
limits. And the object of the writer has been, to put 
together some notes upon it, in such form as will be inter- 
esting to persons seeking general information in relation to 
the United States, and of such a kind as will be more per- 
manent than the usual chapters of detail. 

The physical geography of a country will, of course, re- 
main unchanged, while the descriptions of towns given 
to-day will hardly apply to the same place w^hen the earth 
shall come again to the same place in its orbit. 

The same is true of the history of a country. What has 
transpired will not be effaced by a new page, but what is 
once written will remain. 

The other portions of the work are not of so permanent a 
nature, yet a considerable portion of the remaining three 
parts will not very soon become obsolete. The population 
and municipalities, the state of society, and the pursuits of 
the people, will undergo modifications. They are, however, 
made to occupy a subordinate place in the work. 

The physical description of the country has been drawn 
almost exclusively from two sources : the writer's own ob- 
servation, and the very excellent and graphic report of Mr. 
Nicollet to the Topographical Bureau of the War Depart- 
ment of the United States : from which, being the only pub- 
lished description of a considerable portion of this country, 



INTRODUCTION. V 

narrated in very animated style, large extracts have been 
transcribed literally, as better than a reproduction in new 
shape. 

The history has been collected from a variety of sources : 
some of them of undoubted authenticity. Some of the 
older relations, however, to which resort must be had to 
ascertain the early events connected with the discovery of 
the country, are not to be received without caution. The 
practice among the French of publishing books in names of 
other persons, not the authors of them, has thrown doubts 
over some of its story. M. Tonti disclaimed the author- 
ship of the volume published in his name ; and it is proba- 
ble the same liberty may have been taken with others. 

Parts III. and IV. are principally the result of the writer's 
observation, aided in some particulars by Mr. Wetmore's 
Gazetteer of Missouri, by a contribution of a gentleman of 
Wisconsin, and by some few public documents. 

The reports of Mr. Owen and Nicollet, being very full 
and correct on the geology of this region, large extracts from 
them have been transcribed in the Appendix, and that part of 
the volume consists of little else than extracts from these 
reports and Mr. Keating's descriptions. These form the 
most complete and satisfactory account of the geology of the 
district that can be furnished ; and it was thought best to in- 
sert them literally. On that account this has been placed in 
the Appendix, though the subject would make it more ap- 
propriate to the body of the work. In the Appendix also is 
a very curious and interesting extract from Mr. Owen's 
Report, giving a minute description of some earth work 



VI INTRODUCTION 

monuments in Wisconsin. These two portions of the Ap- 
pendix consist of matter suitable to the body of the 
work : — and to many readers will have more interest than I 
dare to hope for the original matter. The only reason for 
placing them in the Appendix is that they are not original 
matter. This will be a sufficient apology to most readers 
for the length of the Appendix. 

The design of the work is to make an instructive volume 
for the library — and at the same time, though not strictly a 
guide, yet more useful to the emigrant than a book of mere 
details can be, by imparting to him those general ideas of 
the country which will be always of no less value than a 
knowledge of minute particulars in relation to certain places. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction ,.<,... , , , , iii 
Part I. — Physical Geography ....... 1 

" II.— History 60 

" III. — Population, Political System, Civil Divisions, Mu- 
nicipalities, Topography ... . 108 

" IV. — Society, Laws, Pursuits, Life, Habits, Health, Pub- 
lic Lands . . ...... 139 

*' V. — Indians, Monuments ...... 174 

Appendix A. — Geology .... .... 201 

" B. — Monuments . 271 

" C— Plants .... .... 281 

** D. — Table or Distances, Elevation and Latitude . 291 



PART I. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

This country (^west of Lake Michigan) was almost un- 
known to geographers twenty years ago. The report of 
Rev. J. Morse to the Secretary of War, in 1821, states that 
in 1819 there were but three famihes settled from the mouth 
of the Illinois up two hundred and forty miles, and Darby, in 
his Gazetteer (2d edit., 1827), says, "of this immense re- 
gion" (included between Lakes Michigan and Superior, Rivers 
Missisippi and Red, the State of Missouri and the northern 
boundary of the United States) "much remains unknown, 
and of those parts that have been explored, our information 
is generally imperfect." [Verb. Michigan.] Galena was 
settled in 1828; and in 1833, after the Black Hawk war, 
settlements began on Rock River and the northern parts of 
Illinois and in Iowa, upon the tract purchased of the Sacs 
and Foxes. In the list of rivers flowing into the Upper Mis- 
sisippi, in the same work, are several defects and errors. 
On the right side. Root and Wabsipinicon and Checagua (or 
Skunk) are omitted ; and that now known to the inhabitants 
of Iowa as Tete des Morts, is called Galena. On the left, 
some considerable streams are not named. The falls of St. 
Anthony are placed, in the same authority, in latitude 44°, 
which is one degree south of their true situation. 

It is said that the list is given mostly on the authority of 
Schoolcraft, and they are also moi^e minutely detailed from the 



2 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

circumstances that the valley of the Missisippi is yet imper- 
fectly known, of great importance in the geography of the 
United States, and that the source of intelligence is recent 
and respectable. Mr. Darby well said that the knowledge 
of this region was imperfect ; for we are informed by Mr. 
Schoolcraft, to whom he refers as a source recent and 
respectable, that the Rock River Rapids extend six miles up 
the river. Their length is, in fact, fifteen miles. Another 
striking instance of the errors in regard to this country, is in 
the statement of Mr. Brackenridge, that the St. Peter's enters 
the Missisippi forty miles below St. Anthony, and is navi- 
gable one thousand miles to its source — when, in fact, it is 
nine miles from the falls, and its whole length is less than 
five hundred miles. In some maps of this country, still 
more recent, published within twelve years of the time of 
writmg this, there also appear similar inaccuracies. It is, 
in fact, only since the termination of the Black Hawk war, 
and the settlement of the country consequent thereon, that 
it has become known to geographers and to the world. 

The country which is here intended to be included in the 
name of the Northwest, or the Upper Missisippi valley, is 
bounded on the east and southeast by the Lake Michigan 
and the waters connecting it with Lake Superior, and by 
Illinois River ; on the south, southwest, and west, by the 
Missouri River ; and on the north by the line separating the 
territory of the United States from the British Possessions. 
It comprehends about 10° of latitude, from 39° to 49°, and 
14° of longitude, from 87° to 101° (10° to 24° from Wash- 
ington), and contains about 300,000 square miles. A large 
part of this tract, consisting of the northern portion, is still 
held by the Indians ; and the Notes, excepting those relating 
to the geography, history and climate, will, for the most, 
apply to its remaining or southeastern portion. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 3 

This country has some very pecuhar natural features. 
The most remarkable of these is the innumerable multitude 
of lakes that spangle its northern surface, the remains, no 
doubt, of a vast sea that once covered the whole country 
extending north from the Gulf of Mexico, and perhaps reach- 
ing to Hudson's Bay. 

Besides this, there are two great natural features belong*^ 
ing to the Valley of the Upper Missisippi, which perhaps 
are never fully realized but by actual inspection. The first 
consists in the uniformity of elevation, and the shape of the 
surface. The country, from the outlets of the Illinois and 
Missouri to St. Peter's, and from the Lake Michigan to 
Council Bluffs, and beyond that point westerly, is a vast 
plain, slightly inclining, ascending to the north and to the 
west. By observations taken between the Missisippi and 
the Lake, the elevation above the Atlantic has been found a 
little exceeding 500 feet : and west of the river, in the same 
parallel, toward the Missouri, something over 700 feet. At 
St. Peter's it is about 700. Nicollet states, as the result 
of over one hundred observations taken at Camp Kearney, 
near Council Bluffs, that that point is 1037 feet above the 
Gulf ; and the elevation of Rock Island, in the same lati- 
tude, on the Missisippi, he says, is 528 ; and the height of 
Fort Pierre Chouteau, on the Missouri, he states at 1456 ; 
and the lower end of Lake Pepin, in the same latitude (44^ 
24'), 710. The mouth of St Peter's, in about latitude 45°, 
744 feet. There are a few elevations above the general 
range, called mounds : but with the exception of these, the 
surface is marked only by ravines running from the general 
level down to the beds of the streams, which are usually 
from 100 to 200 feet lower. 

The other remarkable prominent feature is the vegetable 
covering of the surface. There are large tracts of country 



4 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

wholly destitute of tree or shrub, and covered only with a 
luxuriant growth of wild grass, and beautifully interspersed 
with flowers of every hue and variety, each successively 
making the prairie to look gay with their presence from 
April to October. This beautiful natural meadow is not 
more pleasant to the eye, than it is genial to the culture and 
grateful to the toil of man. It consists of a very dark brown 
vegetable mould, in appearance like a mixture of the light 
feathery part of ashes with a rich ooze. It is mellow beyond 
the conception of those who are acquainted only with the 
hard, stiff soils of the Atlantic slope, and as rich and pro- 
ductive as it is mellow. It is turned over by a prairie plough 
running on wheels and set to cut the turf in a regular and 
uniform parallelogram, about three inches thick, and fifteen 
or eighteen inches wdde. This ploughing should be done 
during the springing of vegetation, or one of the three sum- 
mer months ; though May would usually be considered bet- 
ter than August for the operation. If done in May or June, 
it will, in some cases, be ready for a fall sowing, the same 
year. This mould is from one and a half to two feet deep 
usually, and sometimes more than that ; and for whole sec- 
tions, for several townships of six miles square in extent, a 
person could not find more gravel in the same quantity of 
mould than in his flour barrel. Below this rich mould is a 
subsoil, which seems not unsuitable to cultivation, being 
similar in appearance to the soil of the timbered lands, a 
yellow light clay, or clay loam. The country is a limestone 
formation. The timber is only on the streams, and consists 
of elm, ash, black walnut, butternut, maple, mulberry and 
iron wood on the bottoms, and on the upland white, red, 
black, and burr oak, shell bark and common hickoiy, with 
occasionally linden, birch, wild plum and cherry, locust, and 
some other. On the Wisconsin and St. Croix are heavy 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 3 

growths of pine, and for several years past a great business 
has been carried on upon the Missisippi in getting lumber 
down from those regions to the towns along the river. 

The best portions of this Upper Missisippi Valley are 
upon the western shore of Lake Michigan, including the 
eastern portion of Wisconsin ; the Illinois and Rock rivers, 
and their tributaries ; the Missisippi on both sides ; and gene- 
rally the whole of Iowa. In Iowa the prairies are less ex- 
tensive than in Illinois, and the proportion of wood is greater. 
In the southern portion of Iowa, below the Iowa River, the 
soil is more stiff than to the north of that river, where, by a 
slight admixture of fine sand, it is made more friable and 
mellow. By reason of this quality, and being also, for the 
most part, more level, the land south of that river retains its 
moisture later in the spring, and the soil thus loses the 
advantage of time which the climate would give in the differ- 
ence of latitude. 

The soil of the prairie is deeper, and is said also to be 
richer at a distance from timber than in its vicinity. By 
scientific examination, it has been found that carbonate of 
lime enters into its composition in proportion of from twenty 
to forty per cent. In timber lands the proportion is much 
less. The first settlers, however, take the timber land for the 
convenience of fuel and making improvements. Thus the 
best land is actually the last taken. The soil is of such fer- 
tility, that in a few years, if the fires are kept out, there will 
be an abundant growth for all purposes. In the Gazetteer 
of Missouri, by Dr. Beck, published in 1823, it is stated 
that St Louis county is generally prairie : yet, in fifteen 
years after that date, it was almost wholly covered with a 
thrifty growth of timber. The same is the case with other 
places. 

The following statement of the geological structure of tliat 



6 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

portion of Illinois known as the military bounty tract, situated 
in the northern part of the State, is extracted from a volume 
called ''Illinois in 1837." As it is applicable to all the valley 
of the Upper Missisippi, with very slight variations, a very 
accurate idea may be derived from it of the structure of any 
portion of that countr}^ In Iowa generally the vegetable 
mould at the top is a little thicker than it is here stated : — 

" A scientific gentleman who has recently examined the 
central parts of the Military Bounty Tract, has given the 
following as the geological structure of the upland prairies 
in that region. That the same general structure prevails 
throughout the entire peninsula (between the Illinois and 
Missisippi Rivers), and all the central and northern parts of 
the State, is most probable. 1st. Vegetable mould, formed 
by the decomposition of gi'ass upon the original clay soil, 
eight to thirty inches : 2d, pure yellow clay, three to eight 
feet : 3d, gravelly clay, mixed wqth pebbles, four to ten feet : 
5th, limestone rock, two to twelve feet : 5th, shale, covering 
a stratum of bituminous coal, generally four to five feet 
thick : 6th, soapstone ; then sandstone. The bed of lime- 
stone seems to be universal in this region, it having been 
discovered in aU the wells that have been dug, and in all the 
banks of water-courses of any magnitude." 

Although no part of this region can with propriety be 
denominated hilly, yet upon the Wisconsin, Fox, the head 
waters of Rock and Milwaukie Rivers, the country is consider- 
ably diversified with hills, or rather swells, and valleys. The 
only hills worthy of particular notice, not only in this vicinity, 
but in the whole section under consideration, are the Ocooch 
and Smoky Mountains, which are broad and elevated ridges 
rather than mountains. The former is situated about twelve 
miles north of the Wisconsin, one hundred miles above its 
mouth ; and the latter about forty miles south of the portage 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 7 

between the river just mentioned and Fox River of Green 
Bay. (Long's Expedition, v. ii., p. 335.) The blue mounds, 
near the Wisconsin ; the Platte mounds, near Platteville ; 
the Pilot-knob, near Galena ; the Table mound, three miles 
south of Dubuque ; Sherald's mound and Pike's mountain, 
may also be named among the lesser elevations of this 
region, as also Sinsinewa mound. There are some eleva- 
tions also near the right bank of the Missisippi, above Lake 
Pepin ; and, in fact, on both sides in that part of the country. 
The Coteau des Prairies is an extensive and elevated table- 
land, dividing the w^aters which flow into the Missouri from 
those falling into the St. Peter's and Missisippi. A range 
of highlands extends from the Ocooch, on the Wisconsin, to 
Lake Superior, supposed by Long and Dr. James to be a con- 
tinuation of the Ozark mountains. The northern section 
of this highland usually goes under the name of Porcupine 
Hills. 

" It is neither a mountainous, nor a hilly, nor an absolutely 
flat country," says Nicollet, " exhibiting undulations of the 
surface that are not entitled to these usual appellations. 
There are hillocks, swells and uplands, but they have a lon- 
gitudinal and horizontal rather than a vertical projection. Li 
other words, it is a beautiful arrangement of upland and low- 
land plains, that give it an aspect sui generis. The first 
Frenchmen who explored it, and the British and Americans 
who followed them, were so forcibly impressed with this 
novelty in the appearance of the topography, that they 
employed new names to designate it. Hence we have the 
expressions coteau des prairies, coteau des hois [highland 
praij'ie, highland woods^ hauteur des terres [summit of land], 
and rolling, flat, or marshy prairies. There is still sufficient 
variety in the irregularities of its surface, and the distribution 



8 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

of the water-courses, woodlands and prairies, to bestow 
interest and value upon its several sub-divisions. 

" The basin of the Upper Missisippi is separated, in a 
great part of its extent, from that of the Missouri, by an ele- 
vated plain, the appearance of which, seen from the valley 
of the St. Peter's, or that of the Riviere Jacques, looming, as 
it were, a distant shore, has suggested for it the name of 
coteau des 'prairies. Its more appropriate designation would 
be that oi 2^^citeau, which means something more than is con- 
veyed to the mind by the expression, a plain. 

" Its northern extremity is in lat. 46°, extending to 43° ; 
after which it loses its distinctive elevation above the sur- 
rounding plains, and passes into rolling prairies. Its length 
is about two hundred miles, and its general direction N.NW. 
and S.SE. Its northern termination (called ' tete du coteau,^ 
in consequence of its peculiar configuration) is not more than 
fifteen to twenty miles across ; its elevation above the level 
of the Big Stone Lake is 890 feet ; and above the ocean 
1,916 feet. Starting from this extremity (that is, the head 
of the coteau), the surface of the plateau is undulating, 
forming many dividing ridges, which separate the waters 
flowing into the St. Peter's and the Missisippi from those 
of the Missouri 

" Under the forty -fourth degree of latitude the breadth of 
the coteau is about forty miles, and its mean elevation is here 
reduced to 1,450 feet above the sea. Within this space its 
two slopes are rather abrupt, crowned with verdure, and 
scolloped by deep ravines thickly shaded with bushes, form- 
ing the beds of rivulets that water the subjacent plains. The 
coteau itself is isolated in the midst of boundless and fertile 
prairies, extending to the west, to the north, and info the val- 
ley of the St. Peter's. 

*' The plain, at its northern extremity, is a most beautiful 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 9 

tract of land, diversified by hills, dales, woodland and lakes : 
the latter abounding in fish. The region of country is pro- 
bably the most elevated betv^een the Gulf of Mexico and 
Hudson's Bay. From its summit, proceeding from its 
western to its eastern limits, grand views are afforded. At 
its eastern border, particularly, the prospect is magnificent 
beyond description, extending over the immense green turf 
that forms the basin of the Red River of the North, the 
forest-capped summits of the hauteurs des terres that sur- 
round the sources of the Missisippi, the granite valley of the 
Upper St. Peter's, and the depressions in which are Lake 
Travers and the Big Stone Lake. 

" The other portions of the coteau, ascending from the 
lower latitudes, present pretty much the same characters. 
This difference, however, is remarkable : that the woodlands 
become scarcer, whilst the open prairies increase in extent. 
It is very rarely only that groves are met with, to which the 
N'dacotahs, or Sioux, have given the name of Tchan Witah, 
or Wood Islands. When these groves are surrounded by 
water, they assume some resemblance to oases, and hence I 
have assigned this name to some of them on my map. 

" These oases, possessed of a good soil, well wooded, 
offering an abundance of game, and waters teeming with fish, 
offer inducements for permanent settlements. In this region 
there are frequent instances of a marsh or lake furnishing 
waters to different hydrographical basins, — a fact observed 
by the Sioux, and which they express in the compound w^ord 
of iheir dialect, mini-akipan-kaduza ;* — from 7ninij water; 
akipan, division, share ; and kaduzct, to flow, to run out.'* 
[Nicollet, pp. 7, 8, 9, 10.] 

* Mr. Nicollet seems to mistake the application of the phrase imni- 
aMpan-haduza. Akipan is probably a ridge of land, or, as the white set- 
tler calls it, in the very word of the Indians, a divide. The phrase is pro- 
2* 



10 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

The country from Platte River to Council Bluffs is thus 
described by Nicollet [p. 39, et seq.] : — 

" It will be recollected that I have represented the whole 
bed of clay, divided into two portions by a band of iron- 
stone, as having a nearly uniform thickness of 200 feet, and 
that it is intermixed with lumps of gypsum and limestone, 
together with nodules of pyrites ; so that a soil, produced 
from such materials, could hardly be expected to throw up 
anything but a meagre vegetation. It is of a character, too, 
to be so acted upon by atmospheric agents, as to exhibit, by 
the wear and tear of its superficial portions, every variety 
of fanciful summits — domes, cupolas, towers, colonnades, 
&c.; imparting to it a remarkably picturesque appearance, 
especially when contrasted w4th the dense vegetation that 
borders the river, and a narrow slip of prairies crowning the 
summits of the hills that are seen to extend themselves on 
either side. 

" The same physical causes, under other circumstances, 
produce new effects, that add to the beauty and grandeur of 
the scenery. Thus, the rains furrow and cut through the 
plastic and seleniferous clay, down to the most resisting 
limestone, giving rise to a sort of advancing platform, with a 
perpendicular elevation of from 30 to 40 feet, resembling a 
succession of long lines of parapets. 

" But I have now reached the proper place to treat of a 
very interesting phenomenon observed in the midst of this 
cretaceous group. It manifests itself by the occasional 
appearance of a dense smoke at the top of some conical 
hill, or along a line of country bounded by the horizon, so 

bably applied to a ridge, and not to a marsh. So Nicollet has himself ap- 
plied it on his map to the ridge separating the waters of St. Peter's from 
those of the Missisippi. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 11 

as to awaken the idea of distant volcanoes ; hence I have 
chosen to call them pseudo-volcanoes 

" The smoke from these hills and the crevices in the 
plastic clay is said to last at the same spot for a long time — 
say two or three years ; indicating at them a large accumu- 
lation of combustible materials. It is not, to my knowledge, 
accompanied by luminous vapors, and is silently wafted 
along the valley which it mournfully shrouds. The observ- 
ance of this phenomenon, associated with the frequent 
recurrence of a peculiar light and spongy stone that the 
Missouri carries down and strews along its shores, and 
which has been mistaken for pumice-stone, has led to the 
often-controverted opinion that there was a volcanic region 
on the Upper Missouri. There are, however, no true volca- 
noes over any portion of the United States east of the 
Rocky Mountains ; and it was this belief that led me to the 
adoption of the word pseudo-volcano. Neither is the sub- 
stance found in these regions, and commonly called pumice, 
a true pumice ; and, by a similar analogy to that which has 
prompted the name of its probable origin, I have called it a 
pumiciform stone {roche pumiciforme). 

" Before proceeding to account for the appearances and 
circumstances attending these smoking hills, I must add a 
few more facts concerning their traditional and recorded 
history. There were none in activity when I ascended the 
Missouri in 1839 ; and so would seem to have been the case 
at the passage of Lewis and Clark at the beginning of this 
century. But, previous to my arrival, since the memorable 
expedition last referred to, and during a period of three 
years, they were seen, as my information goes, by many in- 
telligent persons engaged in the fur-trade, all of whom are 
naturally observant, and most of them of unquestionable 
authority. I have no doubt, therefore, of the existence of 



13 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

these hills ; and, in truth, upon a distance of 1 30 miles from 
Scalp mountain to beyond the Karmichigah, or Great Bend, 
there is nothing to be seen but a black zone, known to the 
voyageurs as * les cotes hruUes ' — ' collines brulees,^ — viz : 
burnt bluffs, or burnt hills. 

*' In other respects, the character of the vegetation, which 
is always scant upon this zone, indicates, in a measure, the 
epochs when it was visited by these subterranean fires ; the 
blacker and more sterile parts being the most recently burnt. 
They are pointed out by the voyageurs, and I have indicated 
several on my map. The fossil shells, that I have preced- 
ingly enumerated, lose their brilliant opalescent appearance, 
and are partly calcined, though still preserving their specific 
distinctions. Layers of the clay are also met with, so 
altered as almost to deserve the mineralogical name of por- 
cellanite ; in fact, all the minerals belonging to the formation 
exhibit the alteration which might be supposed produced by 
exposure to that sort of action now to be assigned. 

" I believe that these pseudo-volcanic phenomena may be 
compared with those described as occurring in other portions 
of the globe, under the name of terrains ardens ; although 
they are not here accompanied by the emission of flames. 
They are evidently due to the decomposition, by the perco- 
lation of atmospheric waters to them, of beds of pyrites, 
which, reacting on the combustible materials, such as lignites 
and other substances of a vegetable nature in their vicinity, 
give rise to a spontaneous combustion ; whilst further reac- 
tions (well understood by the chemist) upon the lime con- 
tained in the clay bed, produce the masses and crystals of 
selenite that are observed in the lower portion of this inter- 
esting deposit. This is the theory which, with some little 
confidence, we have formed of these pseudo-volcanoes. 

" It may be interesting to future travellers to learn that. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 13 

in order to collect both fossils and most interesting speci- 
mens of crystallized selenite, without taking the trouble of 
making diggings, it is only necessary to perambulate the 
zone of plastic clay shortly after it has been washed by 
heavy rains. Under such circumstances, should they be 
favored moreover by the reflections of the sun, they will be 
struck with the appropriateness of the designation of these 
hills, as applied both by the voyageurs and Indians — ^name- 
ly, of shining mountains. In truth, it is not unlikely that 
these hills, a portion of them attaining an elevation of from 
500 to 700 feet above the river, were some of those referred 
to by the Sioux of the Missisippi, who, conversing with the 
first white men who visited them, and long afterwards with 
Capt. Carver, spoke of the Shining Mountains of the West. 

•' These (so named) pseudo-volcanoes are not, however, 
confined to the valley of the Missouri. Traces of them are 
not unfrequently found over the more westerly regions, as 
far as the upper portions of the rivers called by the Indians 
Mankizitah and Waslitey. The name of Mankizitah-ivatpa, 
usually translated by that of " White-earth-river" (or simply 
White river), means, more properly, Smoking Earth river ; 
whence I have concluded that these indications of pseudo- 
volcanoes were at the same time evidences of the recurrence 
of the upper members of the cretaceous formation, the limit 
of which I have assigned as being somewhere eastward of 
the Black Hills. The name of ' Mauvaises Terres' (bad 
lands) has been applied to districts cut up into deep and in- 
tricate chasms, from which the traveller could hardly hope 
to extricate himself without the assistance of a good guide, 
and that are doubtless due to the burning out of their 
pseudo-volcanoes. 

" However this may be, there can be no doubt that the 
region of country drained by these rivers which I have last 



14 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

mentioned, will present a wide and fertile field of discovery 
to any geologist whose good luck it may be to give it a 
thorough exploration. For there he will find an opportunity 
not only of studying the continuation of the secondary 
cretaceous formation previously described, but likewise of 
discovering the approach to a tertiary formation ; the equiva- 
lents of which are doubtless to be found to the west of the 
Rocky Mountains, as they have already been to the east, on 
the Atlantic borders." 

This country is probably one of the most remarkable on 
the earth, for the variety and abundance of its mineral de- 
posits, and especially for those w^hich are of most extensive 
use in the arts. The sulphuret of lead occupies about one 
degree of latitude, extending north from a point on the Mis- 
sisippi, some eight miles below Galena, and lying on both 
sides, varying in width till it covers as great an extent from 
east to west. On the east side of the river the mineral is 
found principally in a clay matrix, at a depth of sometimes 
only five or six feet from the surface ; on the west side of 
the river it runs at the depth of one hundred feet or more, 
overlaid with magnesian limestone. To the south-west of 
the lead deposit is a very abundant bed of iron, extending 
from the Maquoqueta River south and west to the Wabesepi- 
nicon, in the counties of Jackson and Clinton, in Iowa. Tlie 
extent of this mineral deposit is not known, but is proba- 
bly forty miles or more northeast and southwest, with a 
breadth not less than twenty or thirty miles. The copper 
region extends north from the lead deposits to Lake Superior. 
Its precise limits are not known, but it embraces about 
300 miles square ; it is found south of latitude 48°^ 
in large quantities, and beyond 47° north. From east to 
west it has an equal extent, being found in situ on Bkie 
Earth river, west of the Missisippi, in 94*^, and east as far as 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 15 

between 88° and 89°. Probably in nearly the whole tract 
between the Rivers Wisconsin and St. Croix, and the Missi- 
sippi and Lake Superior, it is very abundant. 

To the south of the lead region, that is, on Rock River, 
on the east, and south of the Wabesepinicon, on the west of 
the Missisippi, is a vast bed of bituminous coal (called by 
Owen the great Illinois coal field), of a good quality, at no 
great distance below the surface. The country is principally 
of magnesian limestone formation. The rock is, for the most 
part, covered with several successive layers of clay, each of 
the depth of many feet, and is generally not found in digging 
the wells of greatest depth. At the bluffs of the Missisip- 
pi, however, and on some other streams, it outcrops. The 
superstrata of clay are covered with a pure vegetable mould, 
unmixed with other matters, of a depth from eight or ten 
inches to three feet or more. In some localities, as at Iowa 
City, are deposits of a fine madrepore or encrinitic marble. 
The country has not yet been explored sufficiently to inform 
us to what extent these abound, nor how great a variety of 
minerals it contains. Mineral salt, and saltpetre, are to be 
considered among them. 

The country has about all the varieties of forest trees 
common to the same latitudes on this continent ; including 
five or six species of oak, the walnuts, ashes, maples, elms, 
hickories, locusts, mulberries, aspens, and poplars, one vari- 
ety of which is very abundant, known as the cotton wood, 
&c. There are very few birches, and the writer has not 
seen any beeches or chestnuts. Of wild plums, the varieties 
are almost endless ; many of them are good, some nearly 
equal to the best cultivated plums, some indifferent. Iron- 
wood is abundant on the bottoms. 

The prickly ash, hawthorn, grape, and gooseberry, are 
among the shrubs and vines. The vegetation is not only 



16 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

varied according to the latitudes, but by the respective situa- 
tions of bottom and upland. But the vegetation of the Mis- 
sisippi and Missouri rivers, on the same parallel, does not 
appear to vary much. On the east of the Missisippi the coni- 
ferae are found in a lower latitude than to the west of it. 
Nicollet says, in reporting the characteristics of the country, 
in his progress up the Missouri : — 

" From the mouth of the Platte River the forests are nar- 
rower. The principal trees are the American and red elm, 
the soft maple, Canadian poplar, white and red ash ; the most 
common undergrowth, horse-briar, fox and false grapes, red 
root, grey dogwood, currant, and gooseberry, with shrubs and 
dense rushes along the banks of the river. The same trees 
and shrubs grow on the numerous islands that are generally 
bordered with black and long-leaved willows. In the higher 
situations, and at the head of creeks, we meet with the black 
walnut and mulberry; bass-wood, nettle-wood, intermingled 
with the common hawthorn, prickly ash, &c. On the high 
grassy or rocky banks, the black and bur oaks constitute the 
principal growth, but occasionally intermixed with the wild 
cherry, red cedar, hornbeam, wild roses, and sumach. The 
low prairies bordering the rivers have a deep fertile soil, and 
abound with sedge-grasses and leguminous plants. Finally, 
taking a pictorial view of the country, the verdure of its 
hills and prairies affords a pleasing contrast with the naked 
sand-bars in the rivers. 

" I have been thus particular in describing the vegetation of 
this part of the country, not only as a feature in its physical 
geography, but as a point of comparison wdth the more 
northerly regions which I have yet to describe." — Nic, p. 30. 

The most important vegetable, native to this region, on 
account of its use as well as its abundance, is a grain called 
wild rice, by some of the Indians, malomini, or menomoni. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 17 

It is similar to the rice of the southern States, if not the 
same ; is a principal article of food among some of the na- 
tions residing here, and gave the name to a tribe that, for the 
most part, subsisted on it. There are also, it is said, the 
wild potato, and wild onion, found here. The former, as the 
writer was informed by Le Claire, late interpreter to the Sac 
and Fox Indians, gave the name to the Wabesepinicon river : 
Wabe-se-pin, potato, or white potato, icon, abode, or resi- 
dence. There is a piece of prairie also, some miles north of 
that river, called, by the French, Pomme de terre (or potato) 
prairie. Some of the streams are supposed to have derived 
their names from the wild onion. Chicago, or Chicagua, 
anything with a strong smell, is the name applied to this 
vegetable, and to the skunk. The sun-flower, the artichoke, 
and the resin plant, grow abundantly in places. 

Mr. Doty, in a letter to Gov. Cass, says the wabessepin 
resembles a potato, is mealy when boiled, and grows only in 
wet clay ground, about one and a half feet deep. The crane 
potato, called sitchauc-wabessepin, is of the same kind, but 
inferior in quality. The Indians use these for food, as well as 
the menomini, and another long and slender root called wa- 
tappinee. Probably it is the first of these that is referred 
to by Nicollet, in the following extract, as the prairie 
turnip : — " The future inhabitants of this region, among its 
most interesting specimens of vegetation, will find, as trees, 
the American and red elm, lime tree, bur oak, white ash, 
ash-leaved maple, nettle tree, large American aspen ; as 
shrubs, the hazel, red root, peterswort, &c. ; as herbs, alum- 
root, tufted and American vetch, wood sorrel, sedge and pas- 
ture grasses. 

*' The intermediate prairies are characterized by small 
depressions, filled with rough grasses, and bordered by the 
Canadian cinquefoil, the germander, southern lily, and but- 



18 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

ton snake-root. Extensive beds of the Virginia strawberry 
are frequently met with in low places ; and in the vicinity of 
Salinas, a species of clover called buffalo clover. On the 
arid slopes is the pink milk vetch, inhabited by millions of 
Spanish flies. Sandbrakes are generally full of mustard and 
dwarf amaranths ; whilst the stony-grassy borders are fring- 
ed with dense bushes of the mimosa tribe and long-leaved 
willows. Finally, all the high prairies abound with the 
silver-leaved psoralia, which is the prairie turnip of the 
Americans, the pomme des prairies of the Canadians, and 
furnishes an invaluable food to the Indians." 

Of grasses, the growth is very luxuriant and various. 
Fitted for the abode of the innumerable herds of buffalo 
that formerly roamed over it in divided empire with the In- 
dian, this country affords perhaps the best pasture, whether 
natural or artificial, on the earth. Many of the varieties of 
the English cultivated grasses are found here. The fox tail, 
the crow foot, and the oat grass are native here. On the 
bottoms is a very luxuriant grass, growing on a round stem 
or culm, eight to nine feet high, which cattle eat with avidi- 
ty. There is also a sweet scented gi'ass, having nearly the 
smell of savory. On all the upland prairie is a very nour- 
ishing grass, growing from two to three feet, which furnishes 
the winter food for cattle and horses. This grass is exceed- 
ing good, both for summer and winter food, and both for beef 
and butter. The latter article in the prairie country of Iowa 
is unusually sweet and delicious. 

The buffalo and beaver, formerly abundant, at the discovery 
of the country, have withdrawn. The former are now west 
of the Missouri River. A few beaver may perhaps occasion- 
ally be found in the more remote parts of the country, in the 
highest latitude. The elk is yet on the border settlements in 
Iowa : the deer is very abundant. To the west, toward the 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 19 

mountains, is a small horse which the Indians take and use 
under their rudely made saddles. The prairie wolf is very 
numerous. At about ten miles from Jackson County seat, 
on the travelled mail road to Dubuque, and fifteen miles from 
this last, the writer once passed seven of these animals in 
company, at another time three. The panther is occasionalJy 
seen. The lynx more frequently. Of these, the writer once 
saw three at a time. There are some badgers. The raccoon 
is very numerous ; and, next to the wolf, most destructive to 
the domestics of the farm-yard. Bears, and some cats are 
found in parts of the country. The rabbit is very abundant. 
Foxes do not inhabit, so far as known to the writer, any part 
of this country. The skunk is not often met. In grounds 
appropriate to their residence, the muskrat are abundant. 
The gophar is an animal very singular in his appearance. 
He is twice the size of a common rat, mouse-colored, having 
a large pouch on either side of the head. His feeble bark or 
squeal may sometimes be heard in riding along the prairie, 
which is very closely studded with his conical house-top, 
standing above the surface, much resembling ant-hills. All 
the varieties of squirrels inhabit here, and there is a field 
mouse of a larger size than the common animal of that name 
in the eastern part of the continent. The weasel is occasion- 
ally found, and there is a small animal, striped like the little 
striped squirrel, living in the prairie, having a long body and 
tail and very short legs, which is commonly known there as 
the prairie squirrel, though I think he is of the weasel tribe, 
having more resemblance to this animal in form than to the 
squirrel. This creature and the gophar are very destructive 
to the corn-fields, and compel the farmer frequently to plant 
his corn twice and three times. 

The wild turkey is found in great numbers on the wooded 
bottom lands ; the prairie hen is frequently seen by hundreds 



20 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

in the prairie. The hawk, buzzard, eagle, owl, and a small 
paroquet, and several varieties of woodpeckers, are met oc- 
casionally. The woodcock, snipe, and quail, are abundant. 
There is a very peculiar bird inhabiting the wet prairies and 
marshes, about the size of the prairie hen, and having a close 
resemblance in color and shape ; the principal difference being 
in a longer neck, and a bill of very peculiar construction. It 
is some nine or ten inches in length and bent over at the end 
like a sickle, the hooked part being from one to two inches 
long. The swan and pelican are seen occasionally on the 
Missisippi, in the latitude of the lower rapids. Farther north 
and west they are believed to be more abundant. To one of 
the lakes in the north-west the Indians have given an appel- 
lation which signifies "the place where the pelicans nestle." 
Geese and ducks are very abundant on some of the water- 
courses ; and occasionally a gull, similar to the saltwater-gull, 
is seen. The small, slender-legged bird, with a shrill, mourn- 
ful note, which is found running about the shores and marshes 
near the sea, in the east, commonly called the peewit, is here. 
Robins, sparrows, swallows, and the other small birds com- 
mon to the east, are also inhabitants of this region. 

Of reptiles, the Upper Missisippi cannot be said to be 
very prolific ; though in some localities this division of ani- 
mated nature is sufficiently represented. The varieties are, 
the great yellow rattlesnake, the prairie rattlesnake (called by 
the Indians massasauga, great adder), the copperhead, the 
bull snake, the milk snake, the black snake, the moccasin ; 
and in the rivers the water-moccasin, with a number of small 
adders. There is one of this tribe called the death-adder, 
said to be as fatal as the copperhead or rattlesnake. The 
writer saw one specimen of an unknown and very peculiar 
kind of snake. It was in the road about one mile back from 
the river, at the foot of the lower rapids. Its length was ap- 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 21 

parently not over fifteen inches, its diameter one and a quarter 
or one and a half inches, square, not round, its color a dull 
yellow or buff, with one or two darker but faint lines drawn 
upon it. At the distance of about two or three inches from 
the extreme point of the tail the square shape of the body 
abruptly terminated, like a stick notched, and cut down so as 
to describe a circle on the end of the parallelogram, and from 
thence it was a regular cone to the point. Having sat upon 
my horse and viewed it for some time, I was satisfied that its 
motion and mode of attack must be very different from the 
common varieties of the snake ; as, though it wriggled like 
the worm, it made no perceptible advance, and I inferred, 
from its lack of longitude, that it could not make much pro- 
gress in the common way. Upon reference to Shaw, Dr. 
Goldsmith, Fleming, and other Avriters on Zoology, I can find 
no description of this very singular animal. Dr. Morse, in 
his Geography, does not notice it. 

Beside the coluber, and the toad, and frog, and turtle, and 
the common worms, reptiles are not numerous. 

The people inhabiting this country are the Menominis or 
Malominis, the Potawatomies, the Winnebagoes, Chippewas, 
Dahcotahs (called by the French Sioux), and Sacs and Foxes : 
this last band is always called, by their own people, Musk- 
waka. The Sacs call themselves Saki. Beside these there 
are several thousand eastern Indians removed from New 
York, who inhabit the northeastern part of Wisconsin, near 
Lake Michigan. 



RIVERS. 

The Missisippi and Missouri, the principal rivers of this 
country, are well known. The Missouri, rising in a moun- 
tain region, flows with a rapid current, about four miles an 



22 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

hour, is very turbid and muddy, and is subject to a great rise. 
Three times, since the country was known to the whites, it 
has risen thirty or forty feet above the usual high-water 
mark. The last rise was in the summer of 1844, and was 
very disastrous, overwhelming the whole bottom country 
between the bluffs. The Missisippi, rising from lakes in the 
midst of a champaign, and flowing through a similar region, 
and over a wide bed, from bluff to bluff, has a slower current, 
generally from two to two and a half miles an hour, is a clear, 
limpid stream, and is rarely known to rise more than ten feet. 
In the spring of 1844, however, it had a rise of fifteen feet or 
more. The Missi-sippi, or, according to other Indian dia- 
lects, Massi-sepo (so the Musquakas speak it), great river, is in 
length, as given by Mr. Nicollet, the latest and most accurate 
authority, in his report to Congress (p. 125), 2,896 miles, 
reckoning to its " utmost sources at the summit of the hauteurs 
de terre, or dividing ridge between the Missisippi and the 
Red River of the North." From this point to the mouth of 
Leech Lake River is 221 miles ; to Wanomon or Vermillion 
River, 248 ; to the head of the Kabikons, or Little Falls, 269 ; 
to the mouth of Kagi-wigwan (Crow-wing) River, 515; to 
the Karishon (Crow) River, 667 ; to the mouth of St. Peter's, 
704 ; St. Croix, 746 ; upper end of Lake Pepin, 781 ; Chip- 
peway River, 810; Black River, 861 ; Upper Iowa, 918; 
Wisconsin, 970 ; head of the Upper Rapids (Rock River 
Rapids), 1159; head of the Lower Rapids (Des Moins), 
1287; lUinois River, 1470; Ohio River, 1680; from thence 
to the Gulf of Mexico, 1216. Rock River comes into 
the Missisippi on the east, about nineteen miles below the 
head of the Upper Rapids. The Lower Iowa River enters 
on the west, about forty-five miles below Rock River; 
and the Moingonan, or Des Moins, about fifteen miles below 
the head of the Lower Rapids. These rapids extend about 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 23 

eleven miles upon the river ; the upper rapids are about fifteen 
miles in length. Mr. Schoolcraft, who considered, as did 
Nicollet, the Lake Itasca to be the source, computed the 
whole length of the river at 3,160 miles, or 264 more than 
Nicollet. This, probably, was occasioned by the addition 
of estimates not very accurate from point to point upon the 
river, founded upon the reckoning of the boatmen. 

Major Long, who measured the height of the falls of St. 
Anthony with a plumb-line, in 1817, states it to be sixteen 
and a half feet. In this he agrees with Pike, who visited it 
twelve years before him. Carver called it thirty feet. Hen- 
nepin, the first European who saw and named it, in 1680, 
says it is fifty or sixty feet high. For reasons hereafter 
mentioned, in the historical part of these notes, full reliance 
cannot be placed on Henepin. It may be, however, that the 
ponderous body of water is gradually wearing away the stone 
which makes the bed of the river before it falls, and that thus 
the height is constantly diminishing ; or, by the falling of the 
stone, and the consequent receding of the fall, the same 
effect might be produced. It is stated, by Nicollet, I think, 
that in a half mile the whole fall is seventy-five feet. 

In relation to the recession of the falls, and the whole 
descent of the water, Mr. Keating says : — " The river (Mis- 
sisippi) runs upon a bed of sandy alluvion, resulting from the 
destruction of the bluff's, but in many places the rock is laid 
bare. These observations upon the geology of the bluff upon 
which the fort is erected correspond with those made at the 
Falls of St. Anthony, with this exception, that, at the latter 
place, our observations are limited to the three superior 
strata, viz : the slaty limestone, with organic remains ; the 
blue limestone, destitute of these ; and the sandstone, with a 
loose texture. The falls are occasioned by the fissures which 
occur in the superior limestone, and which allow the water to 



S4 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

penetrate through this bed to the sandstone, which, being of 
a loose texture, is soon washed away ; in this manner, thick 
plates of limestone are left unsupported, and soon fall by 
their own gravity. This process is constantly causing the 
fall to recede towards its source. What time has been 
required, what lapse of centuries has been consumed, in 
bringing the falls to their present situation, it is not in the 
power of man to decide ; but we may well see that it must 
have been immense. The difference of level at the head of 
the fall and the level of the river at the fort being estimated 
at about one hundred feet, and the strata running in a hori- 
zontal position, we can readily account for the additional 
strata observed under the sandstone at the fort, and which 
are concealed at the falls." [Long's 2d Exped., v. i., p. 309.] 

By the Sioux these falls are called Rara, from Irara, to 
laugh (or, perhaps, Irara, which, quickly spoken, would 
sound Rara). The Chippewas call them Kakabikah, severed 
rock. 

Major Long tells a romantic story in connection with these 
falls. It is thus : — An Indian of the Dacota nation had 
united himself in his youth to a female called Ampato Sapa, 
the Dark Day, a name which, if given at her birth, and not 
afterward bestowed in allusion to her unfortunate end, would 
seem to show that these people possess the power of divina- 
tion. They lived happily together many years. Two chil- 
dren were the fruit of their union. The man, having ac- 
quired renown as a hunter, aspired to be elected a chief. 
To increase his dignity and importance, and to strengthen 
his influence, he resolved to add another wife to his house- 
hold, and fixed his choice on the daughter of a man of influ- 
ence in the tribe. When he made known his determination 
to his wife, she endeavored to dissuade him, by reminding 
him of their long-cherished love, and the happiness they had 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 25 

enjoyed together. Finding no arguments available, and, in 
fact, that he had already executed his purpose of a second 
marriage, she observed her opportunity, launched her light 
bark canoe, and placing her children in it, pushed off into the 
stream above the fall. Her death song was heard, clear and 
shrill, by her friends upon the banks of the river. She 
recited, with a mournful voice, the pleasure she had enjoyed 
when tlie undivided object of her husband's affection. As 
she fell faster and faster down the current, her voice became 
lost in the sound of the cataract. Her boat was borne to the 
edge of the cascade, was seen for a moment in the spray and 
mist that hovered over the water, and disappeared, to be seen 
no more. The Indians say that, often, in the morning, a 
voice is heard singing a mournful requiem, the burden of 
which is the inconstancy of her husband. And some assert 
that the spirit of Ampato Sapa has been seen wandering 
about the place with her children in her bosom. 

For a description of the head-waters and superior course of 
the Missisippi, I quote Mr. Nicollet, the most recent, the 
most accurate, the most lively, and the most graphic descrip- 
tion given of this stream. 

" The Missisippi holds its own from its very origin ; for it 
is not necessary to suppose, as has been done, that Lake 
Itasca may be supplied with invisible sources, to justify the 
character of a remarkable stream, which it assumes at its 
issue from this lake. There are five creeks that fall into it, 
formed by innumerable streamlets oozing from the clay beds 
at the bases of the hills, that consist of an accumulation of 
sand, gravel, and clay, intermixed with erratic fragments, 
being a more prominent portion of the great erratic deposit 
previously described, and which here is known by the name 
of hauteurs des terres — heights of land. 

" These elevations are commonly flat at top, varying in 
3 
/ 



/V/ 



26 NOTES ON THE NOE.THWEST. 

height from 85 to 100 feet above the level of the surround 
ing waters. They are covered with thick forests, in which 
the coniferous plants predominate. South of Itasca Lake 
they form a semicircular region with a boggy bottom, ex- 
tending to the southwest a distance of several miles ; thence 
these hauteurs des terres ascend to the northwest and north, 
and then stretching to the northeast and east, through the 
zone between 47° and 48° of latitude, make the dividing 
ridge between the waters that empty into Hudson Bay and 
those which discharge themselves into the Gulf of Mexico. 

" The waters supplied by the north flank of these heights 
of land, still on the south side of Lake Itasca, give origin to 
the five creeks of which I have spoken above. These are 
the waters which I consider to be the utmost sources of the 
Missisippi. Those that flow from the southern side of the 
same heights, and empty themselves into Elbow Lake, are 
the utmost sources of the Red River of the North, so that 
the most remote feeders of Hudson Bay and the Gulf of 
Mexico are closely approximated to each other." — Nic. Rep., 
p. 57, et seq. 

The principal creek of the five above-mentioned feeders of 
Lake Itasca comes into the east bay of the lake, and is from 
fifteen to twenty feet wide, and, at the time of Nicollet's visit, 
two or three feet deep. This he considers the infant Missi- 
sippi. Mr. Nicollet went up this stream three or four miles, 
and thus describes it : — 

" As a further description of these head-waters, I may add 
that they unite at a small distance from the hills whence they 
originate, and form a small lake, from which the Missisippi 
flows with a breadth of a foot and a half, and a depth of one 
foot. At no great distance, however, this rivulet, uniting 
itself with other streamlets coming from other directions, sup- 
plies a second minor lake, the waters of which have already 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. '27 

acquired a temperature of 48°. From this lake issues a 
rivulet, necessarily of increased importance — a cradled Her- 
cules, giving promise of the strength of his maturity ; for its 
velocity has increased ; it transports the smaller branches of 
trees ; it begins to form sand-bars ; its bends are more 
decided, until it subsides again into the basin of a third lake, 
somewhat larger than the two preceding. Having thus ac- 
quired renewed vigor, and tried its consequence upon an 
additional length of two or three miles, it finally empties into 
Itasca lake, which is the principal reservoir of all the sources 
to which it owes all its subsequent majesty." — Nic. Rep., 
p. 58. 

" For the first twenty-five or thirty miles the bed of the 
river contracts or dilates, according to the character of the 
shores. Its navigation is greatly impeded by erratic rocks, 
trunks of fallen and decayed trees, as well as impending 
branches of living ones, and rapids, which, in proportion to the 
changes of level in the bed of the river, carried along our frail 
canoe with the rapidity of an arrow, or left us, when wanting, 
in perfect repose. I may remark here, that, on this river, 
like all those of this region of country, where, on the narrow- 
ing of the valley, there grows nothing but willows and aquatic 
plants on the shores, with a fine sand at bottom, its bed is 
peopled with innumerable shells, especially wiios and ano- 
dontcE. So far, I saw not a solitary fish." — Nic. Rep., p. 60. 

At fifty miles below Lake Itasca the river acquires a 
greatly-increased width. I give again the words of Mr. 
Nicollet : — 

" At this stage of its progress, the Missisippi river is wide, 
winding itself in large folds, as if to take masterly possession 
of the country ; whilst its waters are enlivened by innumer- 
able flocks of wild fowl. Then comes another contraction of 
the river, which soon opens again, and extends itself to 



28 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Pemidji-gomag, or Pemidji Lake, sometimes called Lake Tra- 
vels. So far, the Missisippi has received the contribution of 
ten rivers ; its wide and flattened bed, completely covered 
by water, presents a lake (or rather pool) from forty to fifty 
miles square, clogged up with aquatic plants, with intermedi- 
ary spaces of clear water, looking like channels ; but among 
which it is difficult to discover the true course of the river, 
for, at certain seasons of the year, the whole is nothing more 
than a marshy prairie. 

^^ Pemidji Lake has not received from geographers the atten- 
tion that it merits ; so that I cannot resist the temptation of 
describing the impression it made upon me. It is a magnifi- 
cent sheet of water, from ten to twelve miles long, with a 
breadth of from four to five, perfectly clear, and without 
islands ; the eye having a free command over gently-swelling 
hills, receding, and thickly wooded ; and it is said that no 
other river but the Missisippi empties into it, save an obscure 
rivulet at its northern extremity. I must confess that, in 
crossing it, I felt melancholy that, even with my artificial 
optics, I could not descry any evidences of civilisation — no 
cottage of the agriculturist ; no meadows, no herds, nor any 
of those cultivated fields whose mellow shades contrast so 
gracefully with the foliage of the forest. The piercing, soli- 
tary cry of the Northern diver — the precursor, according to 
the Indian tradition, of high winds and hurricanes — was the 
only evidence of living nature that presented itself." — Nic, 
pp. 60, 61. 

From Sandy Lake, in about latitude 46° 45^, to Crow-wing 
River, a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles, the 
Missisippi may be navigated by small steamboats. In high 
stages of water, they may pass over the intervening rapids to 
the Kabikons, or Little Falls, one hundred- miles further. 
Mr. Nicollet further says : — 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 29 

" Over the whole route which I traversed after leaving 
Crow- wing River, the country has a different aspect from thgit 
which the banks of the Missisippi above the Falls of St. 
Anthony present. The forests are denser and more varied ; 
the soil, which is alternately sandy, gravelly, clayey, and 
loamy, is, generally speaking, lighter, excepting on the shores 
of some of the larger lakes. The uplands are covered with 
white and yellow pines, spruce and birch ; and the wet, low 
lands, by the American larch and the willow. On the slopes 
of sandy hills, the American aspen, the canoe-birch, with 
a species of birch of dwarfish growth, the alder, and wild rose, 
extend to the very margin of the river. On the borders of the 
larger lakes, where the soil is generally better, we find the 
sugar-maple, the black and bur oaks (also named over-cup 
white oak, but differing from the white oak), the elm, ash, 
lime-tree, &c. Generally speaking, however, this wood-land 
does not extend back farther than a mile from the lakes. 
The white cedar, the hemlock, spruce pine, and fir, are occa- 
sionally found ; but the red cedar is scarce throughout this 
region, and none, perhaps, are to be seen but on islands 
of those lakes called by the Indians Red Cedar Lakes. The 
shrubbery consists principally of the wild rose, hawthorn, 
and wild plum ; and raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, 
and cranberries, are abundant. 

" The aspect of the country is generally varied by hills, 
dales, copses, small prairies, and a great number of lakes; the 
whole of which I do not pretend to have laid down on my map. 
The natural beauties of the country are, however, impressed 
with a character of sternness and melancholy ; the silence 
and solitude of which are interrupted or revived only by the 
flocks of water-fowl that congregate about its waters, to nestle 
amidst and fatten upon the wild rice. The naturalist, how- 
ever, has still an endless field of observation in the insect 



30 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

world, for everywhere life manifests itself in some form or 
other. It is, indeed, remarkable, that the more we advance 
to the north (to within a certain extent, nevertheless), the 
more the mosquito appears to be abundant, as every voyageur 
knows by sad experience. 

" The lakes to which I have just alluded are distributed in 
separate groups, or are arranged in prolonged chains along 
the rivers, and not unfrequently attached to each other by 
gentle rapids. It has seemed to me that they diminish in 
extent on both sides of the Missisippi, as we proceed south- 
wardly, as far as 43° of north latitude ; and this observation 
extends to the Arctic Region, commencing at Bear's Lake, or 
Slave Lake, Winnipeg Lake, &c. It may be further remarked, 
that the basins of these lakes have a sufficient depth to leave 
no doubt that they will remain characteristic features of the 
country for a long time to come. Several species of fish 
abound in them. The white fish {corregonus alhus) is found 
in all the deep lakes west of the Missisippi ; and, indeed, 
from Lake Erie to the Polar Sea. That which is taken in 
Leech Lake, is said, by amateurs, to be more highly flavored 
than even that of Lake Superior, and weighs from three to 
ten pounds. There is another species of this white fish, 
called, by the Indians, tuliby, or ottunihy (the corregonus 
artedi), which resembles it, but is much less esteemed. 
Both species furnish a wholesome and palatable food. 
Among the other species of fish that inhabit these waters, are 
the maslikinonge, or mashkilonge ; the pike, or jack-fish ; the 
pickerel, or gilt carp ; the sucker, or true carp ; the perch ; 
a species of trout, called, by the Chippeways, na?nogus, &c., 
&c. These lakes, which are somewhat deep, swarm with 
leeches ; and, among the amphibious reptiles, there are 
several species of terrapin and turtle, of which Mr. Say has 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 31 

described three of each kind in the appendix to the Second 
Expedition of Major Long. 

" The portage between these lakes and rivers is effected by 
means of intricate paths, the key to which it would be well 
to have, as, without it, an Indian war in this quarter might 
present still more difficulties than those experienced in 
Florida. For this reason, I have been particularly careful in 
laying these portages down on the map, which I could not 
have done had I adopted a smaller scale. It must be borne 
in mind, that, in this region, during six months of the year, 
no use can be made of either horses or carriages ; it is abso- 
lutely necessary to have recourse to bark canoes. Any one 
consulting the map to study the portages, will soon perceive 
that an enemy, after crossing one of the larger lakes, may 
make his escape in almost all directions. In this respect, its 
utility becomes, I think, obvious, not only to travellers, but 
to the civil and military department of the national adminis- 
tration." — Nic, pp. 64, 65. 

" St. Peter's is in my opinion the finest site on the Missi- 
sippi river ; the natural beauty of its environs adding to its 
importance and grandeur. Upon reaching this place the 
traveller is already premonished of the magnificent scenery 
which he will enjoy in ascending the river through its long, 
narrow, and deep valley. At the confluence of the St. Peter's 
and the Missisippi, there is an extensive and fertile plateau 
reaching far to the west, and presenting to the delighted gaze 
a level country, interrupted by moderate undulations of the 
surface, and beautified by intervening prairies, tracts of wood- 
land, and lakes. Fort Snelling is located on the rocky point 
at this confluence of the two rivers, the sight of which inspires 
a sentiment of self-protection in the civilized man thus con- 
fronted with the wilderness. Looking to the right of the 
fort, we behold a continuation of the valley of the Missisippi, 



32 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

whilst to the left begins that of the St. Peter's. The former 
has a character of sternness, produced by the denuded and 
abrupt escai-pments of its banks, the wear of which forms 
rude taluses at their bases. The latter is more graceful, 
having gently sloping borders, divided into natural terraces, 
covered by a luxuriant, grassy sward. Three miles from 
Fort Snelling, and on the right bank of the Missisippi, there 
is a very pretty cascade. Four miles further, we reach the 
celebrated Falls of St. Anthony, which, examined in detail, 
with the noisy boiling of its waters, rebounding in jets from 
the accumulated debris at its foot, its ascending vapors, and 
the long and verdant island that separates the two portions of 
the falls, with the solitary rocky island that stands in front, 
altogether form a gi'and and imposing spectacle. 

" From St. Anthony's Falls may be visited the Lake of the 
Isles, Lake Calhoun, Lake Harriet, and other lakes. Then, 
crossing the St. Peter's near its mouth, the traveller ascends 
the Pilot Knob, from the summit of which he enjoys a mag- 
nificent view, embracing the whole surrounding horizon ; and 
if he will conclude his excursion by going to two natural 
grottoes in the vicinity, should his journey have commenced 
under the auspices of a bright rising sun, he may flatter 
himself that it has been most actively and pleasurably per- 
formed. 

" The name of St. Peter's (the St. Pierre of the French), 
it appears, has been immemorially given to the spot or land- 
ing at the mouth of the river St. Peter's ; but whence the 
name is not known. Father Hennepin, who was the first to 
visit the Falls of St. Anthony, in 1680, makes no mention of 
this river ; but his book is written very confusedly, and, as 
he gives no details of his route, perhaps had no occasion to 
visit it, and was also molested by the Sioux, the omission is 
exphcable. On the other hand, Lesueur, in the journal of 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 33 

his third journey, in 1700, names the St. Peter's as famiharly 
known and acknowledged by traders. As for my part, I have 
no hesitation in assigning its origin to a Canadian by the name 
of De St. Pierre, who resided for a long time thereabouts. 
Carver, in referring to the supposed fortifications which he 
visited below Lake Pepin, mentions a Mr. De St. Pierre ; but 
this was sixty-four years after the travels of Lesueur. How- 
ever, waiving any further inquiry into the origin of this name, 
it is desirable that it should not be changed, because it is an 
important link in the history of the geographical discoveries 
made in this region, as well as a constant point of reference 
by travellers over it ; so that any change would throw addi- 
tional obscurity upon the early history of the country. 

"The name which the Sioux give to the St. Peter's River is 
Mini-sotah ; and to St. Peter's as a station, Mdote-mini- 
sotah. The adjective sotah is of difficult translation. The 
Canadians translate it by a pretty equivalent French word, 
hrouille — perhaps most properly rendered into English by 
blear; as, for instance, mini-sotah, blear water, or the entrance 
of the blear water. I have entered upon this explanation 
because the word sotali really means neither clear nor turbid, 
as some authors have asserted ; its trvie meaning being found 
in the Sioux expression, islita sotah, blear eyed. After the 
same manner they call the Falls of St. Anthony rara, from 
Irara, to laugh, descriptive of the imitative sound they are 
supposed to produce. The Chippeways are more accurate ; 
by them the Falls are called Kakabikah, or severed rock ; and 
the St. Peter's River Aslikibogi sibi^ the Green Leaf River." 
— Nic, pp. 68, 69. 

" From actual measurements made by Mr. H. Sibley and 

myself, the w^dth of the St. Peter's at the crossing-place, 

above its confluence, is 320 feet ; that of the Missisippi, 

below Fort Snelhng, and outside of the gorge whence it issues, 

3* 



34 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

is 576 feet. The intervening space between these two mea- 
sured spots is the rock point on which the fort stands, and a 
grassy bottom, the whole measuring 1263 feet. The mean 
height of the plain supporting Fort Snelling and the Indian 
Agency is 106 feet above the common low water of the two 
rivers, and the height of the Pilot Knob above the same level, 
262 feet."— 16., p. 67, et seq. 

Lake Pepin, about 110 miles below St. Peter's, excels all 
other points on the Missisippi, below St. Anthony's, in the 
beauty and majesty of its scenery. It is an enlargement of 
the Missisippi, in some places three miles wide, and averag- 
ing about two and a half, filling the whole space from bluff to 
bluff, except at two points, where a small meadow appears, 
and extending in length twenty-one miles upon the river. Its 
greatest width is at the southern extremity. The rapid cur- 
rent of the river here settles into an almost stagnant pool, and 
the lake presents a smooth and nearly motionless expanse of 
water without a single island, though the river, in its whole 
course, has a great many, dotting and diversifying the water 
scenery at short distances. The majestic blufis of limestone 
that w^all in the lake, stretch with more regularity, and rise to 
a height more nearly uniform than in other parts of the river. 
The Lake is at times considered dangerous when ruffled by 
storms. '' Le lac est petit, mais il est malin," said Major 
Long's interpreter. On the eastern bank, about midway on 
the Lake, the rocky bluff rises to a height of 450 feet, the 
superior 150 feet being perpendicular, and the remaining 
portion below very abrupt. It forms a point projecting into 
the Lake, with a small estuary on either side. This point 
has received the name of the Maiden's Rock, from an incident 
which is related by Major Long. 

In the band of Wapasha inliabiting tlie village of Keoxa 
was a young Indian maid called Winona, " the first-born." 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 35 

She had conceived an attachment for a young hunter, which 
was reciprocated, and they had frequently met, and agreed 
upon an union. Her family favored the advances of a warrior 
of distinction, and repelled those of her chosen lover. Her 
expostulations were unheeded. Her friends drove away the 
hunter, fixed a day for the nuptials with the warrior, and 
commanded her to comply. Winona had, in an uncommon 
degree, the affection of her brothers, and they besought for 
persuasive rather than compulsory means toward her. A 
party was formed to Lake Pepin, to obtain the blue pigment 
used by the Indians. At this time the warrior, who was 
present, encouraged by her friends, again urged his addresses, 
and was again repelled. Vexed by her obstinacy, her parents 
threatened her, to compel obedience. " Well," said Winona, 
" you will drive me to despair. I have told you that I cannot 
love him, and that I wish to live a maiden. You say that you 
love me, and yet you have driven away the man of my choice. 
Well ! let it be so. But soon you will not have a daughter 
and sister to torment with your false professions of affection." 
She withdrew from the company, and while they were pre- 
paring the feast, wended her way slowly to the top of the 
bluff. When at the summit, she called to her friends, up- 
braided them for their cruelty, and began to sing her death- 
song. Her friends rushed toward the base of the bluff, en- 
treating her to desist, while others madly ran up the hill to 
prevent her fatal design. But she was resolved, and as she 
finished her song, threw herself from the precipice, and fell, 
a corpse, at the feet of her distressed friends. 

The Upper Rapids of the river (in speaking of that portion 
of it below St. Anthony's), commonly called Rock River 
Rapids, extend in length about fifteen miles, upward from the 
foot of Rock Island, which is four miles above the mouth of 
Rock River. The whole fall in this distance is about twenty- 



36 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

six feet. It consists of several chains of ledges, to each of 
which the navigators of the river have given distinct names. 
The depth of water in some places, at the lowest stages, 
does not exceed three feet. The current is so rapid at one 
point near the head of Rock Island, and at one or two other 
points, that a boat, in ascending, cannot be perceived to make 
any progress. 

The Des Moines Rapids begin at three or four miles above 
the mouth of Des Moines River, and extend upward about 
eleven miles. The wdiole fall is about tw^enty-two feet. 
The descent is more regular, and consequently the current 
more uniform than on the Upper Rapids. Boats of moderate 
burden pass over both of these rapids at all stages ; and at 
some times the river may be passed by any boats to St. An- 
thony's Falls. The national government have long had it in 
contemplation to improve the navigation over these rapids ; 
but it can never be done properl}^, until the system of log- 
rolling is laid aside, and the sectional jealousy that withholds 
the needful appropriation, doling out a scanty modicum at a 
time, and riding upon it a hundred other appropriations for 
as many different objects. 

The Upper Rapids may be improved at a very trifling cost, 
by letting in Rock River through the Marais D'Osier, or 
Willow Swamp (sometimes called Marais D'Ogee, and 
Meredosia), which extends from that river to the Missisippi, 
and through which, at high stages, the waters of the two 
rivers actually mingle ; or, by bringing the same stream upon 
the Missisippi about ten miles above its present embouchure, 
over an intervening low and level tract of only three miles in 
width. 

From Gen. Victor Collot, former Governor of Gaudeloupe, 
who travelled in the United States in 1793, the following 
description of this river is taken : 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 37 

" The province of the Ilhnois is, perhaps, the only spot 
respecting which travellers have given no exaggerated ac- 
count. It is superior to any description w^hich has been 
made, for local beauty, fertility, climate, and the means of 
every kind v^^hich nature has lavished upon it for the facility 
of commerce. 

" This country is a delightful valley w^here winds one of 
the most majestic rivers on the globe, and which, after re- 
ceiving the vast Missouri, is still augmented by an infinite 
number of smaller rivers and creeks, all navigable and fitted 
for the construction of mills and machinery of almost every 
kind. 

" This valley is full of small lakes and villages, and inter- 
spersed with woods and natural meadows, strewed with 
medicinal and odoriferous plants. Across these meadows flow 
numerous rivulets, sometimes murmuring beneath the flow- 
ers, and sometimes displaying their silver beds and their 
transparent waters, pure as the air which is breathed amidst 
those romantic spots. On each side of those vast meadows, 
which are level as the surface of the calm ocean, rise lofty 
and venerable forests, which serve as boundaries, while their 
thick and mysterious shades fill the mind with reverential 
awe and enthusiastic contemplation." 

In the foregoing description. Gen. Collot has reference to 
the river bottom only, on the Missisippi between the bluffs. 

" This valley," he says, " is bounded on the right and left 
by two small chains of mountains running parallel with the 
banks of the river, but never more distant than four or five 
miles. 

" The chain on the east begins to be perceived from the 
mouth of the river Kaskaskias, and runs in the same direc- 
tion, as far as the Prairie Du Chien, situated 240 leagues 
higher. 



38 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST 

"These small chains rise commonly 150, and sometimes 
200 feet above the level of the lands vv^hich separate them 
from the waters of the river. These masses of rock are 
composed sometimes of grey stone, flint with which the In- 
dians tip their arrows, or millstone, but most frequently of 
limestone. 

" The lands which run along between these chains and 
the bed of the river, form, as I have already observed, vast 
meadows intersected with small woods ; the whole of these 
lands are the product of successive deposits, occasioned by 
the overflowings of the river. Trees half burnt are often 
found in digging, together with pieces of earthen and iron 
utensils. The whole is a bed of sand, the surface of w^hich 
is covered with a vegetable layer four or five feet in thick- 
ness." — Collot, p. 232, et seq. 

One or two extracts from Nicollet will close that part of 
the notes having relation to the physical geography and 
scenic aspect of the giant river. 

" The whole country embraced by the Lower St. Peter's 
and the Undine Region [or Mankato Valley], exceeds any 
land of the Missisippi above Wisconsin River, as well in the 
quality and quantity of its timber as the fertility of its soil. 
The forests of the valley on the right bank are connected by 
groves and small Avooded streams of the adjoining prairies 
with the forest called Bois-francs ; and they extend so far 
southwest, as to include the lands of the upper waters of 
the Mankato River. 

" The forest trees, as reported to me by Mr. Geyer, are 
chiefly soft maple, American and red elm, black walnut, the 
nettle tree, bass wood, red and white ash ; the undergrowth, 
the common hawthorn, prickly ash, high cranberry, red root, 
grey dogwood, fox grapes, horse briar, and moonseed. 
Among the herbs, are the wild and bristly sarsaparilla, Indian 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 30 

turnip, the gay orchis, and others ; rushes and the flowering 
ferns are abundant along the low banks of the rivers. The 
valley prairies are rich in pasture grasses and leguminous 
and orchideous plants, such as the yellow ladies' slipper, 
American and tufted vetch, and others. The lowest parts 
near the borders of the woods, and those subject to inunda- 
tions, are filled with the high weeds common to such places 
— as the ragged cup, tall thistle, great bitter-weed, the tuber- 
ous sunflower, and others. 

" Swamps are frequent, and some of them contain extensive 
tracts of tamarack pines. Cedars grow intermixed with red 
birch on the rocky declivities of the Lower Mankato River. 
Red and bur oak, with hazel, red root, peterswort, and the 
wild rose, are the trees and shrubs of the uplands. There 
are, besides, thickets of poplar-birch, that are frequent in the 
elevated prairies near the river. The prairies are very luxu- 
riant, and generally somewhat level and depressed ; the gum 
plant and button snakeroot are their most abundant and con- 
spicuous herbs. 

"Along the Missisippi, a length of 180 miles, from St. 
Peter's to Crow-wing River, the valley is wide, with river 
banks of moderate elevation, affording beautiful sites, that 
contrast remarkably with the bold escarpments exhibited 
below the Falls of St. Anthony. In this ascent of the river, 
which is full of rapids, it is necessary to have recourse to the 
pole or the tow-line ; and, generally, following the left bank, 
under good guidance, and with sufficient hands to stem the 
current, portages may be avoided. This left bank presents 
almost a continued level of from ten to twenty feet in eleva- 
tion, forming a retreating succession of terraces that are 
delightful to the view. The superincumbent soil is composed 
mainly of sand, gravel, and clay, intermixed with erratic 
blocks. The sylva consists of white and black oak, white 



40 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

and blue ash, red elm, two or tliree species of maple, the 
lime tree, birch, a few hickories and walnuts. The western 
shore is more generally interspersed with swamps and wood- 
lands, well set with pines, birch, and sometimes with exten- 
sive camps of the sugar-maple." — {Nic, p. 54.) 

" The first steamboat arrived at St. Louis in 1819. Since 
that time the Upper Missisippi is covered with these boats ; 
and the number of arrivals yearly at Galena and Dubuque is 
upwards of 1000. A few boats go above. In the summer of 
1844, two boats were used to run regularly from Galena to 
St. Peter's. No summer has passed in the last five years 
without the passage of some boats up the river to that point 
with parties of pleasure, to enjoy the cool prairie breezes and 
rich scenery of that upper region. 

Beside the steamboats, there are keel boats used for 
conveying produce and merchandise ; flat boats, and dug outs 
or canoes, rudely made of logs. Occasionally a Mackinac 
boat, sloop-rigged, is seen there, brought over from the lake 
by the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. The obstructions which 
are so annoying to the navigator below the mouth of the 
Missouri, known under the name of planters, sawyers, snags 
and rafts, are but rarely found above the confluence of the 
two streams, in the Missisippi. 

The river has an annual rise, from April to June, of some 
six to ten feet ; and there is sometimes a second rise about 
September. The usual velocity of the current is about two 
miles an hour. The water is very clear. 

Missouri River. — Of the Missouri River much less is 
known than of the Missisippi, and it is also at this time 
much less an object of interest. The current of the Mis- 
souri is said to be about four miles an hour, or double that 
of the Missisippi. Its water is turbid, and in these two par- 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 41 

ticulars it greatly differs from the other river, with clear 
waters and a moderate current. The fall of the Missisippi 
from St. Peter's, and that of the Missom'i from Pierre Chou- 
teau, to the confluence of the two rivers, are in the ratio of 
45 to 85, according to Nicollet, and therefore the average 
rapidity of the Missouri is nearly twice that of the Missi- 
sippi.* The great rapidity of current in the Missouri render- 
ing that river difficult of navigation, even by the power of 
steam, in the upward voyage, is not the only obstacle, how- 
ever, to the passage of boats upon it. Its velocity and force 
constantly bring along and heap up sand bars, a characteris- 
tic of nearly all the western rivers, except the Des Moines 
and Rock Rivers, which have rocky beds. Beside the ac- 
cumulating and shifting of sands, the same cause fills the 
river with planters, snags, and sawyers, which are all the 
same thing, that is, drift wood partly buried in the sand so 
as to hold in position, while projecting to the surface it pre- 
sents a point upon which the boat strikes, and is wrecked. 
The different names given to this kind of obstruction have 
reference merely to the position in which they become fixed. 
The Missouri in the lower part of its course is very tur- 
bid, bringing down a great quantity of mud with its waters. 
This character, it has been said, it loses above the Platte, 
600 miles from its mouth. The difference in the descent of 
its current above that point, as given by Nicollet, renders the 



miles ft, m. 


alt. 


alt. at ra. 




* F. P. Chouteau 1256 


1456 - 


- 3S8 = 


1068 


St. Peter's 786 


744 - 


- 3SS = 


356 



From these measurements it appears the Missouri falls 1068 feet in 1256 
miles, or over 80 feet in .TOO miles, and the Missisippi 356 feet in 786 
miles, or over 40 feet in 100 miles, or 5 J ins. nearly in a mile. The fall 
of the Missouri is, how^ever, unequal : in the upper 650 miles, starting from 
Fort Pierre, the descent is 4S4 feet, a little over 8 inches to the mile : in 
the remaining 600, to the mouth, it is 584 or 12 inches nearly to a mile. 



43 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

assertion very probable. Above Yellow Stone it has a fall 
of 362 feet in 17 miles : the upper fall is 90 feet. The 
tributaries are almost innumerable. The most considerable 
in length and width is the Platte, but it is too shallow for 
navigation. 

The bottoms of this river are higher than the Missisippi, 
and rather narrower. 

The distance from the mouth of the Missouri to the 
mouth of the Osage is 135 miles : to Kansas River 382 — 
Nishnabatona 540 — Platte or Nebraska 618 — Council Bluffs 
676 — Sioux River about 860 — James River about 950 — 
Poncali or Niobrarah River 1018 — Fort PieiTC Chouteau 
1256. These distances, given by Nicollet (except the Sioux 
and James), are the results of measurements made by him. 
To the Yellow Stone the distance is said by Flint to be 1880 
miles, the whole of which distance is navigable ; from the 
mouth to the Gulf of Mexico is 1400, making in the whole 
a navigation of about 3300 miles from the Yellow Stone to 
the Gulf. 

" On reaching the Coteau du Missouri, there are no fur- 
ther apparent traces of the cretaceous formation. It is a 
rolling prairie, the soil partly covered by a short, sweet- 
scented, and grateful verdure. An inspection of the gulleys 
shows that the basis of this soil is the erratic deposit previ- 
ously described. The siliceous particles of the soil are 
blackened by the smoke of the vernal and autumnal fires 
of the prairies ; and, as the growth is too scant to prevent 
the dust from being raised by the almost incessant winds 
that blow over them, the traveller is very much inconveni- 
enced. There are no springs to quench the thirst ; and it 
is only at wide distances apart that small pools are met 
with, bordered by aquatic plants, towards which the experi- 
ence of his guide is necessary to bring him to his bivouac, 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 43 

where he must needs have recourse to the dried duno; of the 
Buffalo for fuel. It was in the hope of extricating ourselves 
from difficulties of this kind, that we made an examination 
of the forks of the East Medicine River, which empties into 
the Missouri about fffteen miles below Fort Pierre. 

" This last-mentioned river derives its name from a beau- 
tiful hill on its right bank, called by the Sioux Paliah- 
wakan — translated by the voyageurs, ' Butte de Medicine,' 
and, in English, Medicine hillock, or knoll. It is to be re- 
marked, in fact, of the prairies of this region, that they pre- 
sent such low insulated hillocks, to which the Sioux apply 
the somewhat generic name of re or pahah, according as 
they are more or less elevated above the surrounding plain. 
The affix, wakan, indicates that the locality is to them pecu- 
liarly remarkable, or even sacred, and a spot which they 
select in preference for some of their ceremonies." — Nic, 
p. 44. 

The secondary rivers of this region are the Sti Peters, St. 
Croix, Chippewa, Wisconsin, Rock, Moingonan or Des 
Moines, and Illinois falling into the Missisippi, and Tchan- 
sansan or James, and Tchankasndata or Sioux, falling into 
the Missouri. The Fox River or Outagami, falling into 
Lake Michigan, is also to be placed in this class. Other 
streams that are of some importance are the Crow Wing or 
Kagiwigwan, Karishon or Crow, Iskodo Wabo or Rum, or 
Spirit (the meaning, I think, is White Fire Water), Sappah 
or Black River, Hokah or Root, Upper Iowa, Penaca or 
Turkey, Maquoqueta or Bear, Wabesepinecon or White 
Potato abode, as the interpreter told me* (or rather, I think, 

* Mr. Leclair, former interpreter of the Sacs and Foxes, gave me the 
above definition of the name of this river : Wabe, white ; pin, potato ; 
icon or nicon, abode. It may be so : and the third syllable, se, only an 
expletive. But Wabe-sepo, or sipi, is white river. This tribe use the 



44 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

White River abode or place of council), Wabe (white) sippi 
(river) necon (abode or council place), Iowa or Anketoskesha 
(horse), Checaqua, and Salt River, all these fall into the 
Missisippi. The Blue Earth, or Mankato, falling into St. 
Peter's ; the Chariton, the Grand River, Little Platte, Nish- 
nabatona, Inyan Yankey, or Little Sioux, flowing into the 
Missouri ; Shayan Oju, flowing into Red ; and a number, 
almost endless, of smaller rivers. 

St. Peter's River, called by the Sioux Mini-sotah (blear 
water), and by the Chippeways Ashkibogi (green leaf), rises 
in a region of lakes at the head of the Coteau des Prairies, 
and running southeast soon expands into the Big Stone Lake, 
and farther on, after receiving two considerable streams, the 
Izuzah and Tipsinah, again forms a small lake (called Qui 
parle, or Echo Lake), below which the volume of water is 
again much increased by the addition of other branches, the 
Intpah and the Manya Wakan, and farther down by the Pej- 
uta Zizi, or Yellow Medicine; below which are a series of 
rapids and falls for thirty or forty miles to the Tchanshayapi 
or Red Wood, another branch, which, starting in immediate 
contiguity with the sources of Moingonan, and seeking St. 
Peter's by a not very winding course, falls into it on the right 
in about 44° 35^ N. Below this the river is navigable to its 
mouth, about 250 miles. In this part of its course it receives 
the Waraju, Little Waraju, and Mankato, or Blue Earth, on 
its right bank, and immediately turning, runs in a right angle 
to its former course, and receiving a great number of small 
streams on both sides, and on its left the Witahantu, of larger 

termination nica, nicon or icon, to express something more than abode or 
residence. Thus they call the city of Washington, Washitonica or Wash- 
itonicon. It probably means place of council, or perhaps abode of the 
Chief. Mr. Doty gives the name of the root as Wabesepin 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 45 

size, enters the Missisippi in lat. 44° 52^ about eight miles 
below the Falls of St. Anthony, which are in 44° 58^ 40^^, 
as given by Nicollet. The whole length of this course is 
470 miles. 

The St. Croix River has its extreme sources in Lakes 
Nidjichwe, Miminis, Upper St. Croix, and other lakes that 
lie very contiguous to and nearly surrounding the Kagino 
Lake, which is the head water of the River Mashkeg, falling 
into Lake Superior, and another small lake that gives rise to 
the Wassakude, or Burnt Wood River, also a tributary of the 
great lake. From these sources several branches flow, and 
unite in one stream. It has a succession of rapids at about 
fifty miles below the junction, and at about the same distance 
below are falls, near the latitude of 45° 30^ From this point 
to the Missisippi it is a handsome and navigable stream, and 
expands into a kke called by the same name, by which it 
becomes united to the Missisippi, in less than 100 miles from 
the falls, in lat. about 44° 45^ 

The Chippeway River is composed of several branches, 
the longest of which, called Manidowish, rises in several 
small lakes north of 46°. It has falls below 45*^, and after 
a short course below them of fifty or sixty miles, unites with 
the Missisippi, at the lower point of Lake Pepin. 

The euphoneous Mini Kette Kittigan, a small lake of 
four or five miles in diameter, in lat. 46° 10^, is the source 
of the Wisconsin River ; which, with a winding course, and 
a succession of rapids, rolls down a small stream till below 
the latitude of 44° 30^, where it suddenly expands into a cir- 
cular pool of a mile and a half or two miles in diameter at 
the foot of the lower rapids ; and then, in a bed considerably 



46 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

wider than its upper course, describing a very regular semi- 
circle or rather semi-ellipse, which spans about one degree of 
latitude, in which it receives no tributary, it approaches the 
Fox River of Green Bay within one mile, where, making a 
bend at about right angles, it runs south-west, and afterward 
nearly west, receiving after its recession from Fox a great 
many small streams, it enters the Missisippi after a course 
of more than 150 miles from the Fox, in lat. 43°. This 
latter part of its course can be made navigable for steamboats 
by clearing the bed of sand in some places. It is proposed 
to do this, and by a canal from this to the Fox, of one or two 
miles, to make a clear navigation from Lake Michigan to the 
Missisippi. All these rivers named after the St. Peter's 
have their whole course in Wisconsin. 

Rock River rises in Wisconsin, and after a main southerly 
course for a considerable distance, in whiclf it has entered the 
State of Illinois, it turns westwardly, and directing its current 
toward the Missisippi, £nds that stream four miles below 
Rock Island and the foot of the Upper Rapids, which is the 
most beautiful point on the great river below Lake Pepin. 
Small steamboats have been to Grand Detour, upwards of a 
hundred miles from its mouth. This is very difficult, liow- 
ever, to be done in the spring floods, and can only be done 
then. At the best water the rapids at the mouth are only 
covered but little more than one foot. If the obstructions 
higher up this stream could be removed, those at the mouth 
might be obviated, by making it debouch into the Missisippi 
through the Marais D'Osier, or at a point a little below the 
village of Hampton, about midway on tlie rapids of the latter 
river. The country upon Rock River and its tributaries is 
one of surpassing beauty. On the Pectanon, or Pectanonica, 
a principal branch, commonly called Pcckatonica, and on the 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 47 

Yellow Creek, a tributary of the latter, the scenery is un- 
commonly fine. 

The MoiNGONAN, commonly called Des Moines, is the 
most important stream tributary to the Missisippi on its west- 
ern bank, above the Missouri. This stream, it is said by 
Nicollet, is called Inyan Shasha by the Sioux, and Moingo- 
nan by the Algonquins. A river, which appears to be this, 
entering the Missisippi on the west, is called by Hennepin 
and Lahontan Otenta. It is called Moingona by Charlevoix, 
Des Moines (Monks' River) by Lewis and Clarke. Pike 
makes no mention of the river, but calls the rapids immedi- 
ately above, on the Missisippi, De Moyen ; on the map ac- 
companying his volume, they are both marked with the name 
Des Moines. It is called by Collot, Moins (Less) River. 
The Shetek Lakes, the fountain of the Moingona, are on a 
ridge of land from which springs the source of Red Wood 
River, a branch of St. Peter's. It is a region of lakes and 
wet prairie for more than a degree of latitude south of the 
ridge. The Sunkaku, or Brother, is the highest principal 
branch on the left. The Lizard enters a short distance be- 
low, on the right. Some forty miles below, another princi- 
pal branch enters on the left. The Racoon fork, after a 
longer interval from the last, enters on the right. This 
branch is about 200 miles from the mouth of the river, and 
a large distance above as well as most of that below, to the 
mouth, is navigable, being interrupted at several points at 
present, but susceptible, by very moderate improvements, of 
uninterrupted navigation for about 300 miles. The bed of 
this river is for the most part rock, in which it differs from 
the streams generally in this region, which, with some excep- 
tions, are sandy. In the spring floods, this stream may be 
navigated for two or three months as high as the Racoon by 



48 NOTES ON THE NORTHAVEST. 

such boats as ascend the Upper Missisippi above the Rapids. 
To render it navigable at all times by such boats, it requires 
to have a few loose rocks removed, some snags draw^n out, 
and, in a few points, an artificial embankment, to overcome 
the sharp angles. With these operations, the river may be 
navigable for 300 miles. Perhaps the making slack water 
at certain distances, w^ould further improve it. Capt. Guion, 
of the Topographical Engineers, describes it as being the 
most beautiful and fertile country on which the eye of man 
ever rested. The Tchanshetcha Lake, which is the source 
of the Watumwan, a branch of the Mankato, which, in its 
turn, is tributary to St. Peter's, is separated from the Des 
Moines only one mile and a half, and by a short canal, boats 
may pass through into the St. Peter's. 

Nicollet, in his report, gives an extended and very excel- 
lent description of this river, from which we take the follow- 
ing extract : 

" The Des Moines empties into the Missisippi in 40° 22^ 
latitude north ; and its sources, heretofore supposed to be in 
43°, are extended on my map to 44° 3^ north. It is fed from 
the beautiful gTOup of lakes, previously described as the 
Shetek lakes, towards the middle of the plateau of the Coteau 
des Prairies, at an elevation of 1580 feet above the level of 
the sea. The waters of these lakes flow from northwest to 
southeast, swelling themselves by innumerable tributaries 
until they enter the Missisippi at an elevation of about 444 
feet above the Gulf of Mexico. 

*' The course of the Des Moines cannot be less than 400 
miles ; whence it would follow that the average of its descent 
is nearly three feet to the mile, with a current approaching in 
velocity that of the Missouri. The river flows constantly in 
a deep valley, from its sources to within a few miles of its 
confluence with the Missisippi, where it spreads over low 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 49 

grounds. In its upper part, its bed is upon sand, rolled peb- 
bles, and shingle {gallets). 

" Like most of the rivers in this region, it has its sources 
in lakes and swampy grounds, and has a tortuous and sluo-- 
gish course till it reaches a greater declivity about 43° of 
latitude, v^^hen it becomes much more rapid and direct, and 
frequently pitches impetuously over rocky beds of carbo- 
niferous limestone forming frequent bluffs on alternate sides. 
This rock, which might furnish an abundance of excellent 
building materials, is overlaid in some places by deposits 
of coal. Penned up, as it were, between the valleys of the 
Missisippi and the Missouri, and those of their adjacent tribu- 
tary streams, the Des Moines has no large tributary of its 
own. Flowing through a wide and deep valley, the principal 
waters which it receives are the drainings through deep and 
long ravines, intersecting its shores, and rendering the travel 
along them inconvenient and painful." 

The head streams of the Illinois span a large tract of coun- 
try. The Kankake, its southern main constituent, rises in 
a swampy ground south of Lake Michigan, and flowing 
nearly westerly for more than 100 miles, unites with the Des 
Plaines or Maple River, both of which names are transla- 
tions of its Pottawatami appellation, Sheshikmaoshike, which, 
from its size and the direction of its course, may dispute with 
Kankake the title of principal constituent of the United 
Stream, at a few rods below the point where Otokakenog 
(uncovered breast), another primary branch, mingles with it, 
coming from the northwest. This last stream has received 
the name of Du Page, from a man who was buried on its 
banks. 

When the three streams are united into one, it receives the 
name of Illinois : but it has still another primary branch 
coming from the northwest still further west, which enters 



50 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

only twenty miles below the confluence of the others, called, 
by the Indians, Pishtaco, and by the inhabitants of the country, 
in modern times, the Fox River of the Illinois. The cha- 
racter of the country on the Upper Sheshikmaoshike is simi- 
lar to that about the sources of the Kankake, very flat, wet 
and marshy, and is, for the most part, prairie or untimbered 
land, covered with tall grass, wild rice, and other aquatic 
plants. The course of the Illinois, as constituted by these 
several streams, is nearly south for a considerable distance. 
It then takes a course more westerly, and, becoming navi- 
gable for steamboats below the falls at a point where is built 
the town of Peru, it pursues its course through a country 
which, if it be surpassed, is only by the Moingona and Sini- 
^epo or Rock River, and St. Peter's. It is, in the whole 
length of the united stream, three hundred miles or more to 
the mouth. For fifty miles of its upper course it is not navi- 
gable, to the lower rapids ; below this point it is navigable for 
250 miles to its mouth. Below these rapids the current is 
almost imperceptible. On account of the very slight descent 
of the river the Missisippi when full sets back the waters of 
the Illinois for seventy miles. It frequently overflows its 
banks. The Vermillion is considerable in size, and adds a 
large volume to the waters of the principal river, but it is not 
navigable. The Mackina, Sangamon, Spoon and Crooked 
Rivers, lower tributaries, are sometimes set down as navi- 
gable. The Sangamon is so. Before entering the Missi- 
sippi it receives many minor streams, and the Macoupin, 
scarcely less than those last before named. 

The other tributaries of the Missisippi on the west, be- 
tween Des Moines and St. Peter's, are the Iowa and Red 
Cedar, both of which may be said to be navigable, the Wa- 
besepinicon, Makwaketa, Turkey or Penaca, Upper Iowa, 
Haka (or Root), and Lahontan. The Tchansansan, or James 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 51 

River (a tributary of the Missouri), is a fine navigable stream 
passing through a beautiful and luxuriant region, the follow- 
ing account of which is given by Mr. Nicollet : 

" We reached the river Jacques, at a very celebrated spot, 
called by the Sioux Otuhuoju — meaning, literally, the place 
* where the oaks spring up,' but which I have designated on 
my map as the ' Oakwood Settlement.' 

" The estimate which I have made of the distance between 
this place and Fort Pierre is about 110 miles ; its actual ele- 
vation above the sea is about 1,340 feet, and the descent from 
the Coteau du Missouri to the river Jacques not less than 750 
feet. The last fifty miles, by our route, belong to the east 
slope of the Coteau du Missouri ; but, as we were obliged to 
select our ground, allowing for this, the whole direct distance 
is probabty forty miles. In a similar way, estimating the 
distance to the head of the Coteau des Prairies, which is 
thirty miles to the east, the basin of the river Jacques be- 
tween the two coteaux, and in the latitude of Otohuoju,* may 
be laid down as having a breadth of eighty miles, sloping 
gradually down from an elevation of 700 to 750 feet. These 
dimensions, of course, vary in the different parts of the valley; 
but what I have said will convey some idea of the immense 
prairie watered by the Tchansansan, which has been deemed 
by all travellers to those distant regions perhaps the most 
beautiful within the territory of the United States. 

" I hazard, in conclusion of my remarks on the physical 
geography of the valley just described, the suggestion that it 
has been scooped out by some powerful denuding cause, and 
that its original geological character was such as is now 
observed in the Coteau du Missouri and the Coteau des 
Prairies, by which it is bounded. 

* About 45° 15'. 



62 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

" It is only necessary to cast a glance over the map, to 
form an idea of the importance of Tchansansan river. It 
takes its rise on the plateau of the Missouri, beyond the 
parallel of 47° N. ; and after pursuing nearly a north-and-south 
course, empties into the Missouri River below 43°. It is 
deemed navigable with small hunting canoes for between 500 
and 600 miles ; but, below Otuhuoju, it will float much 
larger boats, and there are no other obstacles in its navigation 
than a few rafts. When we turned away from the river in 
latitude 46° 27", its breadth was from 80 to 100 feet ; and 
we could discover by the water-marks on its banks, that, in 
the season of freshets, it widens out here to 100 yards, and 
south of Otuhuoju to 200 yards. The shores of the river 
are generally tolerably well wooded, though only at intervals ; 
the trees consisting principally of elm, ash, burr-oak, poplar 
and willows. Along those portions where it widens into lakes, 
very eligible situations for farms would be found, and if the 
Indian traders have hitherto selected positions south of the 
Otuhuoju, it was doubtless in consequence of its more easy 
navigation into the Missouri." [From Otohuoju to the mouth 
is from 250 to 300 miles. Very little is known to us of 
this river beyond the above very scanty description of Mr. 
Nicollet.] 

" I have already stated, I think, that the lower portion of 
the Coteau des Prairies forms two spurs ; one of which turns 
off the rivers that have been precedingly described into the 
Missisippi, the other into the Missouri. The divisional line 
of these two spurs is plainly indicated by the course of the 
Des Moines from 43° 30^ of north latitude ; and the one now 
referred to is a prominent ridge, separating the waters that 
empty into the Des Moines from those that flow westwardly 
into the Missouri. But, as it falls ofl" in a gradual slope wlien 
it has reached already 42° of latitude, the head-waters then 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 53 

take first an E. and afterwards a SSE. direction, and are 
divided from each other only by moderate swells or undula- 
tions of the countr}?", that cause them to ramify into a rain of 
streams, carrying their waters, after long ramblings, easterly 
to the Missisippi, and southerly to the Missouri, until they 
finally unite. 

" To the north and west of Nodaway, or Snake River — 
meaning a particular species of snake — several important 
streams take their rise on that side of the Coteau des Prairies 
I am now considering, to empty themselves, of course, finally 
into the Missouri. I shall now give an account of those 
which appear to be least generally known. 

"Inyanyanke River, or Little Sioux. — The name of this 
river implies that there is a rock somewhere along its course.* 
It has been heretofore designated as the Little Sioux River, 
and has its origin from a group of lakes, the most important 
of which is called by the Sioux Miniwakan, or Spirit Water ; 
hence its name of Spirit Lake. This lake has a triangular 
form ; being about seven miles wide at its largest extremity, 
and seven miles in length. It is not remarkably well wooded; 
the smaller lakes to the north of it being better supplied in 
this respect. 

" TcHANKASNDATA RivER, or Sioux RivER. — This is the 
Big, or simply the Sioux River, and is one of the most im- 

* " Inyanyanke River is said to be navigable for canoes. As I saw^ but 
the two extremities of this river, and having obtained no reliable informa- 
tion concerning its intermediary courses, I do not insist on its accurate 
representation on my map. I may most probably have placed it too high 
up one of its tributaries — the Otcheyedan — a name derived from a small 
hill, the literal meaning of which is ' the spot where they cry,' alluding 
to the custom of the Indians to repair to elevated situations to weep over 
their dead relations." 



64 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

portance to the country through which it flows. Its Indian 
name means that it is continuously Hned with wood. Its 
sources are at the head of the Coteau des Prairies, not more 
than a mile from those of the St. Peter's, and separated only 
by a low ridge. Its length cannot be less than 350 miles ; in 
which distance there are two principal bends — the more 
southerly and smaller being terminated by a fall, said to be the 
only obstacle to its entire navigation. From this circumstance, 
the upper part of the river bears another name : the Sioux calling 
it Watpaipakshan, or Crooked River, and the French, la riviere 
Croche. It flows through a beautiful and fertile country ; 
amidst which, the Ndakotahs, inhabiting the valley of the 
St. Peter's and Missouri, have always kept up summer es- 
tablishments on the borders of the adjoining lakes, whilst they 
hunted the river banks. Buflalo herds are confidently ex- 
pected to be met with here at all seasons of the year. 

*' Wassecha, or Vermillion River. — This river is scarce- 
ly more than sixty miles long. It issues from two lakes, 
which the Frenchmen have named Lacs aux Bois leger — 
Light-wood Lakes. Near its entrance into the Missouri, it 
forks, owing to a remarkable promontory that juts out of the 
prairie, and to which are attached many romantic traditions 
that I have not time to recount. The river is not well wood- 
ed ; it is navigable by canoes a portion of its length ; and is 
the last that empties into the Missouri among those flowing 
from the western side of the Coteau des Prairies. At its 
mouth is the upper end of an entensive prairie, about fifty 
miles long, between the Tchankasndata and the Missouri 
Rivers;* having some analogy in its general appearance with 

* " This is the bottom designated by Lewis and Clark as the Buflalo 
prairie, in consequence of the great number of these animals that they 
eaw there. Pierre Chouteau & Co., of St. Louis, keep generally a trading- 
post upon it." 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 55 

the American bottom of the State of IlHnois, opposite St. 
Louis. Belonging to this is a beautiful grove, on a point of 
land called by the French * Pointe-au-Cerf (Stag Point). 
The Sioux name for the prairie is Huppanokutey ; or, by 
contraction, Huppankutey ; meaning, where they hit at the 
elk. 

" We reach now a country differing essentially from that 
previously described, both in respect to its climate and soil, 
and, consequently, in its natural productions. Whatever it 
may lose, however, in estimation of the agriculturist, is fully 
compensated to the geologist, who discovers within it the 
beginning of the great cretaceous formation that underlies the 
hydrographical basin of the Upper Missouri." 

The lakes of this country could not even be named, for 
their multitude. A brief description of each of them would 
make a large volume. They exceed in number five or six 
hundred. A description of one of the largest, and remarka- 
ble also for the qualities of its water, called Mini-wakan, is 
subjoined from the report of Nicollet, frequently quoted 
before. It is nearly in the northwest portion of the valley. 
A body of water, called by the French, Mille Lacs (the 
Thousand Lakes), is about fifteen miles in diameter, nearly 
round, situated east of and near to the Missisippi. 

" The appearance of Mini Wakan Lake did not realize the 
anticipations we had been led to form of it from popu- 
lar account. The lake is on the plateau of the Shayen-oju, 
and is surrounded by swells and hills, varying in height from 
twenty to 250 feet, that so project into it as not to permit its 
whole expanse to be seen but from one spot, which I shall 
presently describe. 

" The prominent hill-top, previously alluded to by the 
name of Miniwakan-chante, is the only beacon to the travel- 
ler leading to the lake ; but even from its summits no idea 



56 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

can be formed of this beautiful sheet of water. He must go 
to a smaller eminence, known as the Butte du Mileau by the 
French voyageurs, whence alone the eye can take in the 
principal contours of the lake. 

" The greatest extension of Devil's Lake is at least forty 
miles — but may be more, as we did not, and could not, 
ascertain the end of the northwest bay, w^hich I left undefined 
on the map. It is bordered by hills that are pretty well 
wooded on one side, but furrowed by ravines and coulees, 
that are taken advantage of by warlike parties, both for 
attack and defence, according to circumstances. The lake 
itself is so filled up with islands and promontories, that, in 
travelling along its shores, it is only occasionally that one gets 
a glimpse of its expanse. This description belongs only to 
its wooded side ; for, on the opposite side, the shores, though 
still bounded by hills, are destitute of trees, so as to exliibit 
an embankment to the east from ten to twelve miles long, 
upon an average breadth of three-quarters of a mile. The 
average breadth of the lake may be laid down at fifteen 
miles. Its waters appear to be the drainings of the surround- 
ing hills. We discovered no outlets in the w^hole extent of 
about tlnree-quarters of its contour we could explore. At all 
events, if there be any, they do not empty into the Red River 
of the North, since the lake is shut up in that direction, and 
since we found its true geographical position to be much 
more to the north than it is ordinarily laid down upon maps. 
A single depression at its lower end would intimate that, in 
times of high water, some discharge might possibly take 
place ; but then it would be into the Shayen-oju. 

"As to the natural history of the waters of the Mini- 
wakan, it is shortly told. They are too brackish to be 
drunk, excepting by horses, who swallow them with avidity ; 
they have a deeper green color than those of the neighboring 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 57 

lakes that are not salt. I had no means of ascertaining the 
density of the water of this lake ; but having caused several 
gallons of it to be evaporated by distillation, I subsequently 
made an analysis of the residue, which proved to be a mix- 
ture of sulphates and hydrochlorates of soda and magnesia." 

The true meaning of the name is undoubtedly neither En- 
chanted, nor Devil (as Mr. Nicollet calls it) ; but medicinal, 
or, as we usually call it, Mineral Lake. This is evident 
both by Mr. Nicollet's description, who says he analyzed it 
and found it to contain soda and magnesia in sulphates, and 
by his own translation of the same word when applied to a 
river and a hill. In describing East Medicine River (which 
is the English name he applies to it), he says, it derives its 
name from a beautiful hill on its right bank, called by the 
Sioux Pahah-wakan, translated by the voyageurs, " Butte de 
Medicine," and, in English, " Medicine Hillock." The lat- 
ter word in the name is the same in each. One in conjunc- 
tion with mini, water ; the other with pahah, hill. The lake 
should therefore be called Mineral Lake ; and the hill which 
they name Mini Wakan Chante is Mineral Lake Heart. 
The Dacota word Wakan, in the vocabulary given by Major 
Long, is interpreted *' mysterious medicine." 

There is one feature in the scenery of this country, rather 

too partial and confined, perhaps, to be worthy of an extended 

notice, but yet certainly too remarkable to be entirely passed 

over. In some places the limestone stands out high above 

the surrounding surface, isolated and naked, in the form and 

appearance of great mural escarpments, sometimes looking 

like an old castle or tower. About the Tete des Morts, in 

Jackson County, and near Dubuque, on the Catfish, and on 

the Little Maquoqueta, in the settled portion of Iowa, are 

some of these appearances. On La Hontan, or Canoe River, 

there is one very remarkable specimen of this work, in a 

4* 



58 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

heap of disintegrated sandstone, thirty-six feet high, four 
miles north of the river. Another, on the VermilKon, called 
the castle, twelve miles north of the latter, on the Iowa side 
of the river. In Wisconsin they are more frequent. 

The points most particularly interesting on account of 
scenery, in this country, are the Rock River Rapids on the 
Missisippi, Lake Pepin, St. Peter's Station, the Falls of St. 
Anthony, and the point of the peninsula between Lakes Su- 
perior and Michigan. It is scarcely possible, says Charle- 
voix, speaking of this last, to see a more beautiful country 
than this tongue of land. It is terminated by a handsome 
river, Manistic, which is full of fish of all kinds. 

This description of the physical geography of the country, 
will not present a clear and vivid picture to one who has not 
seen a similar, but who has been confined to a forest or a 
mountain scenery. The mighty rivers of this region must 
be measured by travel, the prairies must be crossed, and the 
lakes be mirrored to the eye, before the mind comprehends 
the terms of the description. 

" To look at a prairie up or down," says Nicollet, " to 
ascend one of its undulations ; to reach a small plateau (or, 
as the voyageurs call it, a. pi^airie planche), moving from wave 
to wave over alternate swells and depressions ; and, finally, 
to reach the vast interminable low prairie that extends itself 
in front, — be it for hours, days, or weeks, one never tires ; 
pleasurable and exhilarating sensations are all the time felt ; 
en?iui is never experienced. Doubtless there are moments 
when excessive heat, a want of fresh water, and other priva- 
tions, remind one that life is toil ; but these drawbacks are 
of short duration. There is almost always a breeze over 
ihem. The security one feels in knowing that there are no 
concealed dangers ; so vast is the extent which the eye takes 
in ; no difficulties of road ; a far spreading verdure, relieved 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 59 

by a profusion of variously colored flowers ; the azure of the 
sky above, or the tempest that can be seen from its begin- 
ning to its end ; the beautiful modifications of the changing 
clouds ; the curious looming of objects betw^een earth and 
sky, taxing the ingenuity every moment to rectify ; — all, 
everything, is calculated to excite the perceptions, and keep 
alive the imagination. In the summer season, especially, 
everything upon the prairies is cheerful, graceful, and 
animated. The Indians, with herds of deer, antelope, and 
buffalo, give life and motion to them. It is then they should 
be visited ; and I pity the man whose soul could remain 
unmoved under such a scene of excitement." 



PART II. 



HISTORY. 

The History of this country, though modern, brief, and 
scanty in incident, is yet mixed with fable. It was early 
visited by the French voyageurs and missionaries from 
Canada ; but the object of the voyageurs was trade and 
gain ; and while their talent lay not in writing, their interest 
probably prompted them to withhold, rather than blazon, the 
discoveries which they made. Gabriel Sagard, a Franciscan 
missionary, if he is to be believed, was in the country of the 
Hurons, about the Lake of that name, as early as 1624, and 
went as far as Mackina. French missionaries were settled in 
Michigan in 1634. In 1634, we learn from Charlevoix, Bre- 
boeuf and Daniel, missionaries were with the Hurons ; and 
about eight years after, it is stated by the same good authority 
that others went to the Sault St. Marie. 

About the same time (1642) some Jesuits received a depu- 
tation of the Saulteurs, who invited them to go into their 
country. These savages then occupied the country about a 
rapid which is in a strait by which Lake Superior is discharg- 
ed into Huron. It has since been named Sault St. Marie. 
The missionaries were pleased with the opportunity of know- 
ing the country, which none of them had ever traversed. 
Father Isaac Jogues and Charles Raimbaut were sent to 



62 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

attend the deputies of the Saulteurs ; and their voyage had 
all the success that they could reasonably expect. They 
were well received by the savages, who seemed to them to 
be a very good people. 

Father Mesnard, a Jesuit missionary, it is related, was 
with the Indians on Lake Superior in 1661, and in 1665 
Alouez, a missionary of the same order, traversed the same, 
and the other northern lakes ; and in 1 668 he, with Dablon 
and Marquette, formed a missionary settlement at Sault St. 
Marie. I think this event is placed by Mr. Bancroft in 1669. 
In the same year other missions were established by the 
Jesuits in the country near the Lakes. 

These enterprises made known the country, and in 1671 Mr. 
Talon, the king's lieutenant of Canada, took measures to 
secure the dominion of France over all the northwest. For 
this purpose he selected Nicholas Perrot, a man of good ca- 
pacity and education, and having furnished him with a suffi- 
cient force, and given him the proper instructions, sent him 
forth on his expedition. Perrot went as far west as Chica- 
go, at the bottom of the Lake Illinois, now called Lake 
Michigan, where the Miamies were then residing, and visited 
all the northern nations with whom the French at that time 
had any trade, and invited them to meet him in the following 
spring at the Sault St. Marie. At this Congress all the na- 
tions of the north were present, by their delegates, except 
the Mascoutins, Kickapous, and Illinois, to whom, for want 
of time, notice of the meeting was not given. The Illinois 
were then on the Missisippi. The Sieur St. Lusson arrived 
at Sault St. Marie in May, charged with a special commis- 
sion to take possession of all the country occupied by these 
people, and to receive them under the protection of the king. 
The ceremonies on the occasion were an address by Perrot, 
the erection of a cedar post and a cross, with a declaration 



HISTORY. 63 

by St. Lusson of the act of taking possession, and of the 
protection of the king. — {Charl. Hist, de Nouv. Fr.) 

This was the first poHtical event that transpired in the lake 
country, in which Europeans were parties ; the former inter- 
course with the country having been for the purposes of trade 
or of rehgion. And as it is the first, so it is also one of the 
most important political epochs in its history. It differs also 
from prior pages in being authenticated, while the events 
that are said to have preceded it, as well as some subsequent 
relations of discoveries beyond the lakes, to the west, must 
be considered as apocryphal, or rejected as wholly spurious. 

Mr. Talon, having been very active in setting on foot ex- 
peditions for discovery in the north and west, and in extend- 
ing the dominion of France over the nations inhabiting or 
rather roaming over those countries, was anxious to discover 
the sources, course, direction, character, and outlet of a great 
river which had been mentioned to the French by the Indi- 
ans, and which was supposed to reach the sea on the west, or 
to fall into the Gulf of Mexico on the south. This river 
was called by the Indians Massa-sepo, or Missi-sipi, great 
river. For this purpose he sent father Marquette, a Jesuit, 
who had been at Sault St. Marie, with Joliet, a citizen of 
Quebec, and two or three voyageurs, to ascertain the truth 
of their representations. Talon, at his own request, was 
recalled in 1672, and the discovery of the river, which has 
been imputed to Marquette, though it may be doubted, and 
the more extended discoveries of Hennepin, Tonti, and La 
Sale, La Hontan and La Sueur, were accomplished under 
the government of his successor, Count de Frontenac. 

Whether Marquette ever, in fact, performed the service to 
which he had been appointed by Talon, and actual^ discov- 
ered the Missisippi, must be considered rather apocryphal. 
It is not to be stated as an authentic event, or as one, even, 



64 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST 

demanding the credence usually given to the higher class of 
probabilities. 

Marquette himself never returned to Quebec to give a re- 
lation of his voyage, but remained a year or tw^o, after the 
supposed time of its occurrence, among the Indians living 
about Lake Illinois (now Michigan), and died there in 1675. 
It is generally stated that notes of the voyage were not pre- 
served by himself or his companion. His patron, Talon, had 
gone to France before he went (if he did go at all) to the 
Missisippi. The brief narrative that has been published of 
their supposed voyage, does not name the point from which 
they embarked, on or near the Strait of Machinac. It was 
not published till after the upper Missisippi had been explored 
by Hennepin and La Sale. It gives no particulars which 
were not made known by them ; and there is much dis- 
crepancy as to the time when the voyage is alleged to have 
been performed. In the relation published in the name of 
Marquette, it is stated that they embarked on the 13th of 
May, 1673, and arrived at the Missisippi on the 17th of 
June. The statement published in the name of Joliet dates 
the arrival at the Missisippi the 15th of June, 1674, differing 
both in the year and the day. Heriot, again, states it to have 
taken place in June, 1672. Book-making was then, as now, 
a trade at Paris, Amsterdam, and London ; and it is probable 
that the few brief pages annexed to Hennepin, Description 
d'une nouvelle pays, &c., purporting to be the statement of 
Marquette and Joliet, and the whole of the volume was a 
work manufactured by some author to suit the reading mar- 
ket of the time. Such was the case with the work ascribed 
to the Chevalier Tonti, the companion of La Sale, who, when 
the work was mentioned to him by Mr. Iberville, denied 
liaving any hand in it, saying, it was apparently written by 



HISTORY. 65 

some adventurer, who, having some defective notes of the 
country, had pubHshed them under his name. 

In addition to the other circumstances which make the 
authenticity of the relation pubhshcd as Marquette's doubtful, 
Lochman, who published a collection of the travels of the 
Jesuits, printed in London, in 1743, makes no mention of the 
pretended voyage of Marquette — but in his preface he has 
this remark : " The Jesuits have been proved to exaggerate 
so greatly in their accounts, to give so much into the marvel- 
lous, and to assert so many falsities, that, like the shepherd's 
boy in the fable, many people wont believe them, even when 
they do speak the truth. For this reason I judge it neces- 
sary to examine their relations very carefully, and to com- 
pare them with those of such travellers as are in the great- 
est repute for their veracity and talents." The omission by 
so judicious a compiler to include in his work a narrative of 
so important a discovery as that of the Missisippi River, with 
remarks like the foregoing, coupled with the facts, that Mar- 
quette's journal was said to be lost, and that in the narrative 
published as his, no particular descriptions are given, shows 
that the relation ascribed to Marquette was, as above sup- 
posed, considered spurious, or that, if genuine, it was includ- 
ed in that class of travels that were unworthy of belief. 

The supposition applied to this, that it was the work of a 
literary speculator, may be also extended to the second 
volume of Hennepin, as already hinted. But there is more 
probability in favor of his first volume. Indeed, the fact that 
he ascended the Upper Missisippi in 1680 is beyond doubt ; 
and it is quite probable that he was the first discoverer of that 
river. Before, however, entering upon the relation of his 
very important expedition, the substance of the relation of 
Marquette will be given, which, whether true or not, yet, 
having been frequently referred to by writers as credible, and 



66 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

particularly in a late history of this country, by an author of 
much literary fame,* I should not feel warranted to lay aside 
as condemned, and wholly to omit. 

One other step, also, in the progress of discovery in this 
region precedes both the voyage of Hennepin and that of 
Marquette. In the year before Marquette's voyage, that is, 
in 1672 or 1673, Claude Alouez and Dablon, the two mis- 
sionaries who had been with him in 1668 at the Sault, 
ascended the Fox River. In passing up the river, they per- 
ceived, on the banks of the rapids, a kind of idol, very badly 
formed, and which appeared rather as a freak of nature, 
where they had expected to find a work of art. It was a 
rock, whose summit, at a distance, appeared to be in the like- 
ness of a man's head ; and the savages had taken it for the 
tutelary deity of their country. They had painted it all sorts 
of colors, and never passed it without offering tobacco, 
arrows, or something else. The missionaries, to satisfy the 
Indians of the impotence of their pretended divinity, over- 
turned the stone into the river." — Char., vol. ii., p. 250. 

On the 13th of May, 1673, Father Marquette, a Jesuit, 
embarked, as the relation says, with Mr. Joliet, a citizen of 
Quebec, who was the director of the expedition, and five 
other Frenchmen, at some point on or near the Strait of 
Mackinac, which is not named, and arrived at the Bay of 
Puans (Green Bay), at a village inhabited by Kikapoos, 
Miamis, and Mascoutins, where they obtained guides, who 
accompanied them on their way as far as the Wisconsin 
River ; and passing down the Wisconsin (miscalled, in the 
relation, the Mesconsin), they arrived on the Missisippi on 
the 17th of June. They proceeded down the river, from the 
mouth of the Wisconsin, more than one hundred leagues, 

• Bancroft. — History of the United States 



HISTORY. 67 

without exploring the country, or seeing any of its inha- 
bitants, so far as mentioned, except that, three days after 
leaving the Wisconsin, they discovered a much better coun- 
try ; when, on the 25Lh of June, being the eighth day of their 
travel on the Missisippi, they went ashore, and found some 
fresh traces of men upon the sand, and a path which led to a 
prairie. The men remained in the boat, and Marquette and 
Joliet followed the path till they discovered a village on the 
banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within half 
a league of the first, inhabited by Illinois Indians. It is not 
stated on which side of the Missisippi the river was found, 
nor is it described by any name, or otherwise designated by 
the travellers. Mr. Bancroft supposes it to have been the 
Des Moins. This river, in fact, flows into the Missisippi, at 
about the distance mentioned. 

The relation makes mention of passing the river Peckita- 
noni, as the Missouri was then called, and the Ohio, called by 
them the Ouabouskigou, the name of the Wabash being pre- 
served till its junction with the Missisippi. The Chuoanous 
(Shawnees) inhabit the banks of the Wabash, the relation in- 
forms us, who are said to be so numerous, that they have thirty- 
eight villages on the river. They descended the river as low as 
lat. 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas ; and being 
satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, they 
turned their course up the stream, and, ascending the river, 
they passed through the Illinois to the Lake. Their rela- 
tion gives the distance from the Pekitanoni (or Missouri) 
to the Ouabouskigou (or Ohio) at twenty leagues. The 
actual distance is two hundred miles. So great a mis- 
take could hardly be made by a person who had been 
over the ground. Nothing whatever is stated in relation to 
the country traversed, which was through nine degrees 
and a half of latitude, and, by the windings of the stream, 



68 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

one thousand miles, or more, except finding the three rivers, 
Des Moines, Missouri, and Ohio, and Indian villages at three 
points on the river.* 

* The foregoing is abstracted from a narrative appended to the work pub- 
lished in the name of Hennepin, called " Nouvelle Decouverte d'une Pays 
vaste," and comprising twenty-six pages. Marquette's relation is said, 
by Charlevoix, to be contained in the " Recueil des Voyages of Thevenot," 
printed in Paris in 16S7. I have not seen Thevenot, but it is probable that 
the relation referred to is the same as that from which the above is abridged. 
But all relations put forth under the name of Marquette must be considered 
apocryphal. 

Additional JVote. — The relation as contained in Thevenot has just been 
published in Paris. It is the same referred to above. It is impossible 
to conceive that a person who has made a discovery so important, should 
pass, for the space of one thousand miles, down this noble and majestic 
stream, in itself one of the wonders of the world, and then new to all the 
world save himself and a few hunting bands of Indians, and possessing 
some very remarkable peculiarities; and should, in a volume expressly 
designed to communicate his great discovery to the world, have given such 
a meagre account of it; passing the two chains of rapids without intimat- 
ing or apparently knowing that such were on the river ; naming none 
of the eight considerable rivers coming in from the west, nor those on the 
other side, except three of the principal streams which might be known 
by accounts given by the Indians. The book states but two items in rela- 
tion to the country— that there was a chain of very high mountains on its 
bank, immediately below the Wisconsin ; which is an error, there being 
no such chain. The only elevation here is Pike's Mountain, and that but 
little more than two hundred feet above the common level. The other is 
the distance from Missouri River to Ohio, two hundred miles, said to be 
twenty leagues. While everything is omitted that would naturally be told, 
the volume relates that they saw geese and swans without feathers, as these 
birds had a fashion of shedding them at this season ; and also monstrous 
fish, and other monsters. Beside all this, it is known that Marquette never 
went east of Lake Michigan after the pretended voyage, but died on the 
lake about two years after. And the relation under his name was not pub- 
lished till eight years after the voyage, and a year or more after the disco- 
very by Hennepin, and then came forward to fill up a desideratum in a 
collection of voyages published by Thevenot, which could not decently 
appear without a notice of this river, the discovery of which had then 



HISTORY. 69 

Soon after the time when this expedition is stated to have 
happened, Mr. Robert Cavaher de la Sale was appointed by 
the king of France to conduct an expedition, and make dis- 
coveries in the north-western parts of North America. Mr. 
Tonti was associated with him in the enterprise. On the 7th 
of August, 1679, they embarked with Father Louis Henne- 
pin, a Franciscan missionary, and two other priests and thirty 
men, on board a small vessel which La Sale had built, at a 
short distance above the Falls of Niagara, and commenced 
the voyage. They proceeded up lakes Erie, St. Clair, and 
Huron, and passed into the lake called Tllinouac by the In- 
dians, Ilhnois by the French, and now known as Lake Michi- 
gan. Lake Erie was at that time known under the name of 
Conty ; Huron was called Orleans ; Michigan, Dauphin and 
Illinois ; Superior, Conde and Tracy ; and Ontario, Fron- 
tenac. 

After pursuing the voyage as far as the Bay of Puans, 
now called Green Bay, La Sale sent back his vessel to Nia- 
gara, while himself and his associates proceeded to the 
Southern part of the lake, where by appointment they were 
to await the return of the vessel. The ship however 
foundered on the lake, and nothing was afterwards heard of 
vessel or crew. 

La Sale and his remaining associates coasted southward 
along the western shore of the lake as far as the mouth of a 
river designated by Hennepin as the river of the Miamis, 
now called St. Joseph's, which was the point agreed upon 
between them and their companions who had departed in the 
ship, as the place of rendezvous, and where they were to be 

become known. Further : the express object of La Sale's expedition was 
to discover the Missisippi — which could not have been if it had been 
already discovered, as pretended, six years before he undertook it, by his 
own countrymen, under the direction of his own government. 



70 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

joined by some of their company whom they had left at 
Mackinac. Here they buiU a fort. They then passed up 
the river as far as the point where a narrow portage of about 
a league divides it from the Kankake or southern branch of 
the Illinois River, where they crossed to the stream last 
named. This branch of the Illinois was called by the 
Indians Theakeke, wolf, because the tribe of Indians called 
by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelt 
there. The mode of speaking it by the French was Kiakiki, 
and became con-upted to Kankake. From the point of land- 
ing on the Miami River the portage extended over a wet 
champaign to the neighborhood of the source of the Thea- 
keke, on which, at a village inhabited by Miamis, Mascotins, 
and Ouiatinons, the hardy and intrepid voyagers launched 
their bark canoes to descend by the Illinois and Missisippi 
Rivers, only heard of, but unknown before, through vast re- 
gions of unrevealed and doubtful country, whose forest and 
prairie might then, so far as known to them, receive for the 
first time the foot of man, or might resound with the yell of 
the lurking and blood-loving Indian. The Theakeke springs 
out of lands which are so miry that a person can scarcely 
walk over them. And the country, for a great extent, upon 
the river, is of the same description. " That country," says 
the relation, " is nothing but marshes, full of alder trees and 
rushes, and we could have hardly found, for forty leagues to- 
gether, any place to plant our cabins, had it not been for the 
frost, which made the earth more firm and solid." The com- 
pany had taken their departure from the Fort at the mouth of 
the St. Joseph's, or River of the Miamis, on Lake Michigan, 
on the 3d day of Dec, 1679, and it was near the close of the 
same month when they arrived at the village of the Illinois, 
on the river of that name, a distance of more than one 
hundred leagues from the Fort. In this journey, after pass- 



HISTORY. 71 

ing through the great marshes already mentioned, near the 
sources of the Theakeke, they came to a vast plahi; on 
which nothing grows but grass and weeds, which at that 
time were dry and burnt, it being the custom of the Miamis 
to set them on fire every year for hunting the buffalo. From 
this, it appears that the annual burning of the prairies is an 
ancient practice of the Indians. It is supposed to be owing 
to this custom that those large tracts in the west are desti- 
tute of timber. 

The travellers embarked aga,in at the Illinois village, and 
continued to fall down the river for four days longer, when, 
on the first day of January, 1680, they came into and 
passed through a lake which is described as seven leagues in 
length and one broad, and was called by the Indians " Pimi- 
teoui" (pimitewi), that is, a place ivhere there is an abun- 
dance of fat beasts — a common way of describing a place by 
them ; as Missi limachinac, a great plenty of turtle. This 
lake is that enlargement of the river now known to the 
western settlers and travellers as Lake Peoria. It is said in 
the narrative that the river never freezes below the lake. 

There was a village of the Illinois Indians at this lake, 
who endeavored to dissuade the travellers from their design 
of descending the Missisippi and navigating that stream ; — 
representing it as inhabited by very ferocious tribes of savages, 
filled with formidable animals, full of rocks and rapids to- 
wards its mouth, which falls into a hideous and bottomless 
gulf, and horrid whirlpool, that swallows up everything com- 
ing within reach of its force. The travellers remained with 
these Indians some time, and at the foot of the lake they 
built a fort, which La Sale called Crevecoeur, and to which 
the Indians gave the name of Chicago. Terror of the 
Indians, and the hardships and perils of the travel, had caused 
the desertion of several of his men. He had lost his ves- 



72 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

sel, and the lives of others had been sacrificed with that acci- 
dent, and he was surrounded with perils and difficulties. 
These circumstances of grief and disappointment may have 
suggested the name which he gave to his fort.* 

Thus far, however, though having had perils to encounter, 
and having experienced some disappointments, they were not 
greater than might be anticipated in such an undertaking. It 
was now, also, mid winter, and they had to encounter the 
rigors of a northern climate. Yet their undertaking was not 
frustrated, and they had information of a better state of things 
before them. They learned, by conversation with other In- 
dians, that the dangers of which they had been told by the 
Illinois did not exist, but that the Missisippi was in fact navi- 
gable from its source, and was inhabited by well disposed 
Indians who would offer them the pipe of peace. 

La Sale therefore resolved on pursuing his enterprise, and 
took his measures accordingly. He directed father Henne- 
pin to proceed to the Missisippi with two of the company, 

* Fort CreveccEur was built upon an elevated site on the bank of the 
river, the exact location of which may be determined by the following ex- 
tract, which probably has relation to the same spot, from Mr. Patrick 
Kennedy's Journal of an expedition undertaken by himself and several 
coureurs de bois, in the year 1773. The journal is a circumstantial ac- 
count of a progress up the Illinois River. He says : — 

" August 7. This morning being very foggy, and the river overgrown 
with weeds along its sides, we could make but little way. About 12 o'clock 
we got to the old Pioria Fort and village, on the Western shore of the river, 
and at the southern end of the lake called the Illinois Lake, which is nine- 
teen miles and a half in length, and three miles in breadth. It has no 
rocks, shoals, or perceivable current. We found the stockades of this 
Pioria Fort destroyed by fire, but the houses standing. The summit on 
which the fort stood, commands a fine prospect of the country to the east- 
ward, and up the lake to the point where the river comes in at the north 
end." He gives the distance from the mouth at 210 miles, and above Lake 
Demi Qui an 39 miles. 



HISTORY. 73 

while himself, with three others, should return to Fort Fron- 
tenac, where they had first embarked, to procure some further 
supplies ; and that the Chevalier Tonti, with the rest of the 
men, should remain to garrison the fort at Crevecoeur. Here 
he remained with his little band of soldiers for many years. 
The companions of La Sale, in the subsequent disastrous 
expedition in which he lost his life, found Tonti still at the 
fort, in 1686, and La Hontan also, in 1689, says he was then 
residing there, when he returned from his expedition up the 
St. Peter's. 

Father Hennepin, accompanied by only two Frenchmen, 
Anthony Auguel, surnamed Picard du Gay, and Mitchel Ako, 
left Fort Crevecoeur on the 29th February, 1689, and on the 
7th March, reached the Missisippi. Hennepin, with his com- 
panions, proceeded up the river as far as the falls, which were 
named by him St. Anthony of Padua. He observed the Des 
Moines River (called Otenta), and another at the west, which 
was probably St. Peter's, but which he does not mention by 
any name. This river, some years after the date of its dis- 
covery, by Hennepin, received the name of St. Pierre, from 
a trader of that name, who resided upon it. It has been sug- 
gested, however, that the true name of this river is " Sans 
Pierres," without stones : it being at the mouth entirely clear 
of stones. A few years after this time, the Des Moines, or 
Otenta, is mentioned in the maps by the name of Moingona. 
He found also the Black River, on the east side, above the 
Wisconsin, which was called by the Sauteurs (or Chippe- 
was), Sappah, and by the Naudowessiouns, or Sioux, Cheba- 
deba. And above the Chebadeba, he entered the beautiful 
and romantic lake which he called the Lac des Pleurs, and 
which has since received the name of Lake Pepin * The 

* Major Long says it was first called Lake Pepin in the manuscript of 
Le Sueur j Charlevoix calls it Bon Secours. 

5 



74 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

travellers proceeded up the St. Croix River, which they 
called Riviere de la Tombeau, because an Indian grave was 
there. On the 1 2th of April they were captured by the Isauti,* 
or Chippewa Indians, and were unable to proceed further 
than the St. Francis River. They were informed by the 
Indians, that there was another fall, about twenty or thirty 
leagues above St. Anthony's, near which lived a tribe of In- 
dians called Tintonha, or prairie Indians. Having remained 
two or three months in captivity they passed down the river, 
leaving Ako behind, and ascending the Wisconsin, passed 
down the Fox River to the Bay of Puans. While they were 
passing Lake Pepin with their Indian captors, a council was 
held to deliberate on putting to death the prisoners. Those 
who were in favor of this design cried all night, as is custom- 
ary with them when they wish to prevail on their companions 
to consent to the death of their captives. On this account it 
was named by them Lac des Pleurs, as before mentioned. 

Father Hennepin must undoubtedly be considered the dis- 
coverer of the Missisippi. The supposition that Marquette 
was there before him, may or may not be in accordance Avith 
the fact. No relation was given of it ; no information or ad- 
vantage appears to have been derived from it. When La 
Sale started on his expedition from Fort Frontenac, it seemed 
to be for the purpose of discovering a river known only to the 
Indians, not of merely visiting a place already known. It is 
also stated in the volume which passes as the second work of 



* The Indians cf the St. Mary's were called by the French, Sauteura 
(that is, Indians of the falls) of St. Mary's. Those who dwelt by the Falld 
of St. Anthony, were called also Sauteurs, and corruptly Isati (Eaaute). 
They are the Chippewas. The name of Naudouessies, by which the Sioux 
were called, was probably Nordouest, applied to them by the missionaries 
and traders of Lakes Superior and Mackinac, who had been acquainted 
with them some years, and which the Indians converted into Nordouessi. 



HISTORY. 75 

Hennepin that he saw Joliet at Quebec, and being informed 
that he had been upon the Missisippi, he questioned him in 
relation to it ; and was answered that he had never been 
further than the country of the Hurons and Ottawas. These 
Indians inhabited, the first south, and the last north, of the 
Straits of Mackinac. This story of the interview with Joliet 
may or may not be true ; but there is nothing, leaving it out 
of the case, to induce even a strong belief that Marquette 
and Joliet had been to the great river ; and the honor of its 
discovery must be given to Hennepin. 

La Sale having made his preparations to maintain the posi- 
tion he had established at Lake Pimitewi, as a point d'appui 
for the prosecution of his discoveries, returned to that post, 
and in 1 682 he descended to the Missisippi, and fell down 
that stream to its mouth. And this is the first undoubted dis- 
covery of the Lower Missisippi, though the narratives before 
mentioned have related that both Marquette and Hennepin 
had gone down the river nearly to its mouth. It was in 
March that La Sale came to the Missisippi and prosecuted his 
discovery to its mouth.* He took possession of the country 
of the Arkansas Indians, and arriving at the mouth of the 
river on the 9th of April, took possession of the country there 
according to law — [Ch., v. 2, p. 276]. On the 11th he reim- 
barked and ascended the river. On this voyage he left colo- 
nies at Kaskaskia and Kakokia. 

The country of the lower Missisippi is not withm the scope 
of this work, and events relating to it will be briefly noticed 
only as they have connection with the discoveries or settle- 
ments in the upper country. La Sale, after his voyage down 
the river, returned to France for the purpose of making a 

* Charlevoix says he embarked on the Missisippi on the 2d of February, 
and going down the river, took possession of the country of the Arkansas 
on the 4th of March. 



76 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

voyage thence by sea to discover the mouth of the Missi- 
sippi ; and in 1684 he sailed with a large force destined for 
the Gulf of Mexico. He was unsuccessful in his design of 
finding the mouth of the river ; but having built and fortified 
two forts on the gulf, which he garrisoned with some of his 
men, he departed from the Bay of St. Louis, in the northwest 
part of the gulf, to make an overland expedition to his fort on 
the Ilhnois, and to obtain a knowledge of the country and its 
inhabitants. After travelling 150 leagues to the northeast, he 
returned to his fort in the Bay of St. Louis on the 17th of 
October, 1786. Having remained here two months, he re- 
solved to make a second attempt to pass over to the Illinois 
River, and taking twenty men with him, he departed a second 
time from Fort St. Louis, resolved not to return till he had 
found the Illinois. His second departure from the fort took 
place on the 7th of January, 1687. Before he had proceeded 
as far as on his first attempt, he was murdered with three 
others of his company, by some of his own men. His 
brother, M. Cavalier, with father Anastasius, M. Joutel, and 
others of the party, made their w^ay to the Illinois, and up 
the river to Crevecoeur, where they found Mr. Tonti and his 
garrison, and were hospitably received, and after remaining 
some days, proceeded on to Quebec. 

The next voyage in order of time is that of the Baron 
Lahontan. He started from Machinac on the 24th Sept., 
1688, and from the Bay of Puans, called by him the Bay of 
the Potawatamies, on the 30th of the sam.e month, with a 
large detachment of French and five Ottawa hunters, pro- 
vided with new canoes filled with provisions, munitions of 
war, and articles for traffic with the natives. Near the Bay, 
on the banks of the Fox River, at the time of Lahontan's 
voyage, were villages of Sakis, Potawatamies, and some 
Malominis, and the Jesuits had a house there. A great 



HISTORY. 77 

trade was carried on in peltries and Indian corn, which the 
savages trafficked with the coureurs du hois. 

At this period, and even prior to the first enterprise of La 
Sale for the discovery of the Missisippi, there was a con- 
siderable trade with the Indians of this region. It is said in 
1779, that more than two hundred loaded canoes pass 
through the Straits St. Marie and Machinac to Montreal. 

Lahontan entered this river on the 29th September, and 
the warriors of each of the three nations came in turn to his 
cabin to entertain him with the dance of the calumet and of 
the captain : the first in token of peace, and the second in 
compliment to the traveller, to signify their consideration and 
regard for him. He departed from this place on the 30th 
September, and passed up the Fox River, which he called 
the River of Puans. In his passage up the Fox he stopped 
at a village of the Kickapoos, and of the Malominies, to 
whom he made presents, receiving in return two or three 
bags of the meal of wild rice. He arrived on the 9th at a 
fort of the Outagamis, where he was well received, and 
left on the 11th. On the 13th he landed at a place where 
he found the Chief of the nation. He here received an ac- 
cession to his company of ten Outagami warriors. This 
fort was at half a day's journey from the head of Fox River 
or Puans, and embarking at noon on the 16th, he arrived on 
the evening of the same day at the portage of the Wiscon- 
sin. They were occupied two days in transporting their 
canoes and baggage over this portage. He describes the 
Fox as salt and muddy. The country upon the river seems 
to have been anything but agreeable to him. He speaks of 
the river as desolate, and says it is bordered with steep hills, 
marshes, and frightful rocks. On the 19th of October he 
embarked on the Wisconsin, and in four days he was at the 
Missisippi. Passing up the Missisippi he came on the 2d 



78 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

November to a river which he called Long River. On the 
3d he entered into the mouth of Long River, which he 
describes as forming a sort of lake full of rushes. The 
river, he remarks, is the stillest in the world. He ascended 
the stream 200 leagues, which occupied him sixty days. 
He lays down the course of the river from west to east. It 
is not easy to conclude, by the account given of this jour- 
ney, upon what river Lahontan travelled this great distance 
upon the course he describes. The course of St. Peter's is 
at this day very different, being first for a large distance from 
its source from northwest to southeast nearly, and in the 
latter part of its course about south southwest, and north 
northeast. If he ascended St. Peter's to its source, he 
might easily have passed to the waters of Red River, which 
now at times mingle with those of the former. Mr. Nicollet 
supposes that Cannon River answers to the Long River of 
this traveller. The station of the traveller, the large num- 
ber of his company, the incidents which he relates, and the 
particularity of his description, forbid the idea that his narra- 
tive is purely fabulous. But there is not, at this day, any 
stream in that region upon which he could have ascended so 
far. If he had gone upon the waters of the Red River he 
could not have failed to perceive that he was going down 
and not ascending the stream. The Cannon River is a short 
stream, upon which he could navigate scarcely one sixth 
of the distance named. We must suppose that since that 
time, a considerable change has taken place in the waters of 
that country. It may be, that Cannon River communicated 
with St. Peter's, or with other waters, and that beyond, to 
the west, some communication existed with the Missouri. 

This supposition is not unsupported. The early travellers 
to this part of the country received accounts from the Indians 
of a vast lake that existed, as they said, far to the northwest, 



HISTORY. 79 

which they represented as larger than Superior. Charlevoix 
speaks of this lake, as well as other writers of that time. 
" The country of the Assinipoils," he says, " is in the neigh- 
borhood of a lake which bears their name, with which we 
are but little acquainted. A Frenchman, whom I saw at 
Montreal, assured me he had been there, but had seen it only 
in a transient manner, as one sees the sea in a harbor. It is 
the common opinion that this lake is 600 leagues in circum- 
ference ; that its banks are delightful ; that the climate is 
very temperate, though it lies to the northwest of Lake Supe- 
rior, and it contains so great a number of islands, that it is 
called in that country the Lake of Islands. Some Indians 
call it Mitchinipi (Great Water) ; and it seems, in effect, to be 
the reservoir or source of the greatest rivers and all the great 
lakes of North America. All the following rivers are said to 
have their rise from it : the Bourbon, which runs into 
Hudson's Bay (Red River) ; the St. Lawrence, which car- 
ries its waters to the ocean ; the Missisippi, which falls into 
the Gulf of Mexico ; the Missouri, which mixes with the 
last ; and a fifth, which they say runs westward, and conse- 
quently discharges its waters into the South Sea. I do not, 
however, warrant all these facts, which are supported only 
by the accounts of travellers ; and, much less, what the 
Indians have related, that in the neighborhood of the lake are 
men resembling the Europeans, who are settled in a country 
where gold and silver are so common that they are employed 
in the meanest uses." 

The face of the country, and the peculiar physical charac- 
teristic which it at present has, being diversified with a clus- 
ter of numerous lakes, which, with the addition of a body of 
water not very great, would make a Lake of Islands as 
extensive as that named, favor the story. A branch of Red 
River, rising in the country of the supposed lake, now bears 



80 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

the name of Assinaboin, and a tributary of the last, called 
Mouse River, rises within a mile of the Missouri. 

Long says, " although many have supposed that the 
waters of the Missisippi are separated from those running 
northwestwardly into the Pacific, and northeastwardly into 
the Atlantic, by a mountainous range of country ; yet, from 
the best information that can be had on the subject, the fact 
is quite otherwise. The old and almost forgotten statement, 
of savage origin, that four of the largest rivers of the conti- 
nent have their sources in the same plain, is entitled to far 
more credit. The rivers alluded to, are the Missisippi, St. 
Lawrence, Suskatckawan, and Oregon.* Agreeably to the 
accounts of Col. Dixon, and others, who have traversed the 
country situated between the Missouri and Assiniboin, a 
branch of the Red River of Hudson's Bay, no elevated 
ridge is to be met with ; but, on the contrary, tributaries to 
both these streams take their rise in the same champaign. 
The water courses are represented as chains of lakes of 
various magnitudes, while lakes and stagnant pools are scat- 
tered in every direction, without ridges or perceptible declivi- 
ties, to show the direction in which they are drained." — V. 
ii., p. 380. 

The tract included between the Missisippi, Crow Wing, 
Red River, and the ridge spreading over the sources of the 
Missisippi, forming nearly a parallelogram of 100 by 150 
miles, lying northeast and southwest, is mostly, at this day, 
a collection of lakes and water. There is very clear evi- 
dence, from geological indications, that the whole Upper 
Missisippi was, at one time, submerged ; and it is highly pro- 
bable that, in the gradual subsidence of the waters, "which 

* Colonel Long is probably mistaken in naming the Oregon as one of 
the four alluded to. Charlevoix is probably more correct in naming the 
rivers. 



HISTORY. 81 

may not have taken place in 1690 or 1700 to the extent it 
has now attained, a great lake may have covered all that 
area, — or, at least, that the physical geography of the country 
at that time may have presented some difference in the quan- 
tity and disposition of its hydrographical outline. In the pre- 
sent century, the Missouri has so changed its course that 
Nicollet was unable to find some of the bends described by 
Lewis and Clarke, thirty years before. 

The supposition of Nicollet, that he passed through Can- 
non River, is not improbable. The sources of Cannon 
River are within four or five miles of an eastern branch of 
Blue Earth River, and the intervening ground is a perfect 
level. The communication may, at the time of the voyage, 
have been complete, or been made so by a freshet, and he 
would thus have passed through the Blue Earth into St. 
Peter's. It is not improbable that the St. Peter's itself once 
pursued this course, more in unison with the course of the 
river higher up, and disembogued where the mouth of Can- 
non River now is. At this day the St. Peter's, at the mouth 
of the Blue Earth, makes a bend at right angles with its 
former course, as stated above. It is well known that at 
high stages of water, boats may now pass into Rock River 
through the Marais D'Osiers, thirty miles above the mouth 
of Rock River. 

Lahontan's descriptions are too particular, and his narra- 
tive too circumstantial and too probable, to one acquainted 
with the northwest, to be discredited, merely on account of a 
supposed impossibility of performing the voyage, because of 
the physical unfitness of the country at this day. His work 
was, it is true, decried in its time by the Jesuits, but this 
was for the reason that he had spoken lightly of them ; and, 
because, from ignorance of the country and the people, state- 
ments which are now known to be correct, would then have 
6* 



82 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

been deemed improbable, and received with distrust. After 
navigating the St. Peter's, Lahontan went down the Missi- 
sippi, taking notice of the Des Moines River, which he 
called Otenta ; the same name by which Hennepin had 
designated a river falling into the Missisippi from the west ; 
visited a village of Otenta people, probably Illinois, and 
passed down to the Missouri, up which he sailed some dis- 
tance, meeting some Arkansas and a band of unknown In- 
dians, and proceeded down as far as the mouth of the Ohio, 
called by him, Ouabach (Wabash) ; and then, ascending the 
Missisippi, passed up through the Illinois, on which, at Fort 
Crevecoeur, he met with Sieur Tonti, who, it appears, was 
yet remaining where he had been left nine years before by 
La Sale. 

Lahontan was probably the first European who had as- 
cended the Missouri, as well as the St. Peter's, and must be 
considered the discoverer of both these noble rivers. 

The river now called Des Moines, was laid down in the 
map accompanying Lahontan, and mentioned by him, and 
also by Hennepin, under the name of Otenta. In Charle- 
voix, and in the Histoire Generale des Voyages, published in 
1757, it is called Moingona. 

A person who has seen this country, knows that it has 
undergone great changes at more than one epoch. It bears 
evidence that at one time the whole surface of the Missisippi 
valley has been submerged ; and we make a short digression 
in this place, to state more fully our opinion on this matter. 
There is no doubt that, at some remote period, by the con- 
vulsion of an earthquake, the land of this valley has been 
upheaved, and has thrown off the water that covered it, 
which may have extended from the Gulf of Mexico to 
Hudson's Bay, separating our hemisphere into two conti- 
nents. Such was my own decided opinion, frequently 



HISTORY. S9 

expressed, at the first sight of this region ; and I have found 
since that others have had the same opinion. There has 
been a second change subsequently, in which the streams 
that drained off the waters of this country have been confined 
within narrowed beds. Upon all the streams of this coun- 
try, the banks at present confining their waters are low 
bottom lands, the alluvion of the streams, generally from six 
to twelve or fifteen feet in the principal rivers above the 
common stage of water. Behind these are bluffs forming a 
wider bed, in which it is probable the stream once flowed. 
My conjecture is, that at some upheaving of the earth by an 
earthquake, since the epoch of the denudation, another part 
of the lakes and waters, that had been left after the first, has 
been thrown off, and thus the streams, which convey off 
these waters, have been diminished and their beds narrowed. 
In 1663 Canada was visited by a very violent earthquake, 
which probably extended to this country. It is known to 
have extended west to the region of Lake Michigan. To 
Europeans the Missisippi country was then unknown. My 
conjecture is, that this earthquake not only was felt at that 
period on the Missisippi, but that it may have been repeated 
also, or rather continued, and that, by a gradual upheaving, 
the consequence of these earthquakes, a change may have 
been effected in the hydrographic condition of this country 
since it was seen by Lahontan, and that rivers may have 
extended then farther than their channels now run, and some 
of the ground then forming their beds has become dry. 
Though there is no authority for stating that this earth- 
quake actually rent the earth of the Missisippi valley, yet, 
as it is known to have been felt in a neighboring region, and 
probably was here also, the relation is here given as con- 
nected in its effects, though not in time, with this portion 
o( our story. The story is, in the main, true, though the 



84 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

lights in the air and the lowing of the sea-cows may have 
been painted by the alarmed imagination of the witnesses. 

In 1663 Canada was visited with a great earthquake, which 
extended nine hundred miles east and west, and perhaps fur- 
ther. The following account is given by Charlevoix : — 

" Trees were thrown into the air with as much force as if 
a mine had been exploded under their roots, and some were 
found fixed in the earth by their tops. A person could not 
feel more secure upon the water than upon the land. The 
ice which covered the River St. Lawrence and the streams, 
was broken and thrown together ; large blocks of ice were 
thrown into the air, and the places which they had left threw 
up a large quantity of sand and mud. Many fountams and 
small streams were dried up ; in others, the waters were 
impregnated with sulphur ; and there were some whose beds 
even, in which they had flowed, could not be distinguished. 

" Here the waters became red, there they turned yellovv- ; 
those of the river were all white, from Quebec to Tadoussac, 
a space of thirty leagues. The air had, also, its phenomena. 
A constant thundering was heard in it ; they saw, or ima- 
gined they saw, in it spectres of fire, bearing torches in their 
iiands. Flames appeared in it which took all sorts of figures 
— some of pikes, some of lances ; and burning brands fell on 
the roofs without setting them on fire. From time to time 
meanings increased the terror. Sea-cows were heard lowing 
on the Three Rivers, where never before these fish had 
appeared ; and their lowings had nothing like that of any 
creature known. In a word, in the whole extent of three hun- 
dred leagues from east to west, and more than one hundred 
and fifty from south to north, the land, the rivers, and the 
shores of the sea, were, for a long time, by intervals, in such 
an agitation as the Prophet King represents when he relates 
the wonders which accompanied the departure from Egypt 
of the people of God. The effects of this earthquake were 



HISTORY. 85 

infinitely varied ; and never, perhaps, was there more cause 
to think that nature was to be destroyed, and the world 
coming to an end, 

" The first shock lasted half an hour, without cessation ; 
but, at the end of a quarter of an hour, it began to be less 
violent. The same day, at eight o'clock in the evening, 
there was a second shock, as violent as the first ; and, in the 
space of a half-hour, there were two others. Some persons 
counted thirty-two in the following night, some of which were 
very strong. * * * * 

^' Half way from Tadoussac to Quebec two mountains were 
levelled, and of the earth w^hich was thrown down by them, a 
point was formed, which was advanced a half-quarter of a 
league into the river." 

These several voyages of Hennepin, La Sale, and La- 
hontan, had made the world acquainted with the noble Missi- 
sippi from St. Anthony's to the Gulf, and with the St. Peter's, 
and Missouri, and Wisconsin, and Illinois, and with a vast 
extent of territory, containing the richest soil upon the earth, 
and some of the richest deposits of metals within it. 

The dominion of the French in America had been extend- 
ed by the discovery and acquisition of all that territory lying 
west of the Lake Michigan to the River Missisippi, and of 
the much greater and more magnificent region comprehended 
under the name of Louisiana : embracing all that country 
which it is within the scope of this work to describe. La- 
hontan, it should be named, took formal possession of the 
country of St. Peter's, by setting up landmarks of his travel ; 
and Louisiana included the Missouri River, of which it does 
not appear that the French gained any jurisdiction by his 
visit beyond what might be claimed by the right of discovery 
merely. 

The earliest visitors to Lake Superior had become ac- 



«b NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

quainted with its rich deposits of copper ore. More than one 
of the pubhshed descriptions mention it, and it is stated by 
(Charlevoix that such was the purity of the ore that one of the 
monks who was there, and who had been bred to the business 
of a goldsmith, made from it some sacramental articles 

*' The savages," says Charlevoix, " on account of the quan- 
tity of fish furnished by Lake Superior, and of the respect 
inspired by its vast extent, have made it a sort of divinity, 
and offer to it sacrifices in their manner." He thinks, never- 
theless, it is rather to the genius of the lake than to the lake 
itself that they address their prayers. " If one may believe 
them," says he, " the origin of the lake has something divine 
in it. It was formed, they imagine, by Michabou, the god 
of waters, in order to supply them with beaver. In the strait 
by which it is discharged into Huron, there is a rapid, caus- 
ed," he says, *'by great rocks, called Sault St. Marie. These 
rocks, according to the Indians, are the remains of a cause- 
way which God had built to hold the waters of the river and 
those of Lake Alimepegon, which filled this great lake." 

*' In places on its borders, and about some of its islands," 
says the writer above-named, " we found large pieces of 
copper, which are yet the object of the superstitious adoration 
of the savages. They regard them with veneration as a 
present from the gods who inhabit the waters. They collect 
the smallest fragments of it, and preserve them with care, but 
make no use of them. They say that formerly they have 
seen a large rock, all of the same mineral, raised much above 
the water ; and, as it is not now to be seen, they say that the 
gods have removed it somewhere else. But there is reason 
to suppose that in the lapse of time the waves of the lake 
have covered it with sand and ooze : and it is certain that we 
discovered in many places a large quantity of this metal 
without even being obliged to dig much. On my first voyage 



HISTORY. 87 

to this country I knew a brother of our order who was a gold- 
smith by trade, who, while on his mission at Sault Ste. Marie, 
had gone in search of it, and had made chandeliers, crosses, 
and censors of it ; for the copper is often almost wholly 
pure." 

The savages supposed that when Michebou formed Lake 
Superior, he dwelt at Missi-Mackinac,* where he was bom. 
This name is properly that of a small island, nearly round and 
very high, situated at the extremity of Lake Huron, and it 
has become extended by custom to all the country about. 
The island may be three or four miles in circuit, and may be 
seen at twelve miles distance. There are two other islands 
at the south, the most distant of which is five or six leagues 
long, the other is very small, and perfectly round. Both are 
well wooded, and the soil is very good, while that of Missi- 
mackinac is but a sterile rock, and scantily covered with a 
little moss and grass. It is, however, one of the most cele- 
brated spots in Canada ; and it was a long time, according to 
some old Indian traditions, the head-quarters of a nation 
which bears the same name, and which counted, they say, 
thirty bands, scattered over the neighboring country. It is 
said that the Iroquois destroyed them, but it is not said at 
what time, or on what occasion. It is certain that no vestige 
of them remains : but I have read somewhere that our early 
missionaries have seen some remnants of them. 

This is the account given by Charlevoix, and he adds that 
the name signifies much turtle. 

* This name means much turtle, and the first part is the same as the 
first part of Missi-sippi, i.e., much water, or great river. The French 
travellers called it Michasippi, and Michilimackinac. Perhaps also the 
word Michebou is corrupted in the same way. Miche is probably Missi, 
great, and the whole word, Great Spirit. The name of the Great Lake 
also before spoken of is given Michinippi. It should be Missi — the same 
word again 



88 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Mr. D. Iberville, who had the commission of the French 
king for that purpose, found the mouth of the Missisippi in 
March, 1700, and ascended the stream some distance. He 
deputed his father, Mr. Le Sueur, with twenty men, to make 
an establishment in the country of the Sioux, and to take 
possession of a mine of copper on the Green River (now 
called Blue Earth), which puts into St. Peter's on the left, 
at 40 leascues above the mouth. Le Sueur could not ascend 
the Green River on account of the ice, though it was in 
September, and was obliged to build a fort, and winter there. 
As soon as the season would permit, in April, he visited the 
mine, and in twenty-two days drew from it more than thirty 
thousand pounds weight of the mineral. He selected four 
thousand of that which appeared best, and carried it with 
him to France. — {Charl., v. 4, p. 165, et seq.) 

Mr. Nicollet, who explored that country in 1838, could not 
find the place referred to, though its situation is very exactly 
pointed out by Charlevoix. 

In 1710, the king granted to Mr. Crozat the exclusive 
privilege of trading in Louisiana for sixteen years, and the 
property in himself and his heirs for ever, of the mines, ores 
and minerals, that might be discovered and worked. In 
1717, Crozat surrendered the grant to the king, and he trans- 
ferred it to the western company, which at this time was 
formed by Mr. Law. Under the auspices of this company, 
a German colony was settled a few miles above New Or- 
leans. The company held it until 1731, when it was retro- 
ceded to the king. The grant included the country of the 
Illinois, which was rather indefinite, but probably was intend- 
ed to include all the country in the Missisippi Valley that 
had been visited by the French, which would extend north 
to the territory of the English settlements in Hudson's Bay, 
and west as far as the country was then known. 



HISTORY. 89 

I 

This country, whose discovery and occupation has been 
chronicled in the foregoing very concise epitome, comprises 
about three-fourths of a milhon of square miles in extent, 
mostly of a soil that has not its equal on the earth, and 
covers nearly in latitude the v^hole of the northern temperate 
zone. Its features are peculiar. Most conveniently and 
beautifully distributed in grove and prairie, the settler finds 
the labor of subduing it but the sport of a season ; fertile as 
the chemistry of nature can produce, the husbandman almost 
forgets he is subject to the law laid upon his first parent, and 
is scarcely conscious that in the sweat of his brow he earns 
his bread. It is not more beautiful to the sense, than grate- 
ful to the toil, of man. 

In the enterprises, humble in means and in the mode of 
prosecuting them, silent, miapplauded, hazardous and toil- 
some, great in their results, a few brave and polite French- 
men, accompanied by two or three pious, peaceful and 
zealous disciples of the cross, surmounted with comparative 
ease and impunity, obstacles which, to explorers of different 
material, would have presented pictures of blood and death. 
The acquisition of this invaluable country was made by 
them almost without disaster, which, if attempted by others, 
would probably have made our peaceful story a series of 
most moving tragedies. The Frenchman forgets not that 
the uncivilized, as well as civilized man, is his brother, and 
he deports himself as man to man. The sturdy Saxon treats 
the Indian like a dog. The Frenchman adapts himself to all 
situations, and to all people. The American thinks every- 
thing is to be accommodated to him. But the churchmen 
were also greatly useful in inspiring the savages with peace- 
ful emotions, by their religious emblems, services, devotions 
and instructions. By these means, and by such deportment, 
aided by a few presents judiciously bestowed, and with such 



90 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

influence superadded, as the possession of their formidable 
fire arms, mostly unknown to the natives, gave them, they 
were enabled to conciliate the untamed children of the forest 
and prairie, and to avoid many encounters which a more rude 
and inconsiderate treatment of the savages would doubtless 
have provoked. 

In 1720, a colony of Germans made a settlement on the 
banks of the river, a few miles above New Orleans. They 
were quite numerous, amounting to 1500. In 1723, some 
Capuchin, and, in two years after, some Jesuit missionaries, 
settled in the country. For nearly a century following this 
time, the country was peopled with very few inhabitants, 
and the events that occurred were few ; and saving the trea- 
ties by w^hich the political relations of the country were 
changed, and the dominion successively transferred from 
France to Spain and England, and afterwards to the United 
States, are of little interest. In this period, however, that 
is, in fifty years succeeding the building of Fort Crevecceur, 
and the first establishment of the French in that quarter, 
several settlements were made on the American bottom, a 
few miles below the mouth of the Illinois. These were at 
Kaskaskia, Kahokia, and Prairie du Rocher, a few miles 
north of the others. A settlement was also made at Vincen- 
nes, on the Wabash, originally called St. Vincent's ; and 
several points on the Missisippi were visited by them, as the 
river Des Moines, Prairie du Chien, Prairie Pomme de 
Terre, Marais d'Osier (Willow 8wamp), now corrupted into 
Meredosia Swamp, and other places. 

In 1729 there was a conspiracy of the Natches Indians 
against the French residing at Fort Natches, which, by the 
incredulity, blindness and obstinacy of the commander, Che- 
par, who had full notice of the conspiracy, which his rapacity 
and misrule had caused, resulted in the massacre of 2000 



HISTORY. 91 

settlers, with circumstances of the most revoking barbarity, 
and the captivity of a great number more. In 1752 one of 
those hostile in-uptions, so common among the savages of 
this continent, took place betw^een the Outagamis and Mitchi- 
gamis, which is thus related by Bossu, a French traveller, 
who was in the country at the time : — 

"In 1752, the Kahokias met six Outagamis hunting. 
They took them prisoners, and burned them. One of the 
Outagamis escaped, however, from the stake, and having 
returned to his nation, related to them what had been done 
to his companions. The chief of the nation called an assem- 
bly, in which it was resolved to send bundles of rods to mark 
the number of warriors and the day of departure to their 
allies, the Sioux, Sakis and Kikapoos, who went with the 
Outagamis to the number of 1000, to revenge the death of 
their brothers who had been burned by the Kahokias. They 
embarked in 180 canoes on the river Wisconsin, and de- 
scending that stream and the Missisippi, landed near a vil- 
lage of the Michigamis or Missigamis, below the Fort of 
Kahokia, with which tribe it appears the Kahokias, who had 
burned their countrymen, were domesticated. The com- 
mander of the allied invaders ordered ten or twelve of the 
best runners to throw themselves into the village, which was 
immediately done. They fell upon the enemy's village, and 
killed all they met, sounding the death dry, and having dis- 
charged their arms fled with great speed. The Missigamis 
pursued. The Outagamis and their allies lying concealed in 
the tall grass, discharged their arrows at the approaching foe, 
by which twenty-eight were killed, and immediately fell upon 
the village, and killed men, women, and children, set fire to 
the village, and led away captives those who were not slaugh- 
tered. This battle took place on the 6th of June, 1752. 
The Outagamis lost four men : the Missigamis, in killed and 



92 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

prisoners, about eighty. The alUes, content with their re- 
venge, re-embarked with their prisoners, and returned to their 
own country. — Bossu, i., p. 129, et seq. 

In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to 
Spain, to prevent it from falUng into the hands of the Eng- 
lish, with Canada, which it now became manifest must 
become the property of the latter nation by conquest, and 
which was actually given up to the English in the following 
year (1763), by the treaty of Paris. Twenty years after- 
ward, by the treaty of peace between England and the United 
States, that part of Canada lying south and west of the great 
lakes, and comprehending a large territory which is the sub- 
ject of these sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion 
of the United States ; and twenty years still later (in 1803), 
Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to France, and by France 
sold to the United States. 

Li 1763, Mr. Laclede, who, in the preceding year, had 
received a charter to trade with the Indians, from the French 
governor at New Orleans, ascended the river, leaving New 
Orleans in August, and, on the third of November, arrived at 
St. Genevieve ; and, in the following spring, with thirty 
others, on account of insufficient accommodation at St. Gene- 
vieve, passed over the river to Fort Chartres, a post esta- 
bhshed by the French in 1732. 

In the half centiury from the building of the fort of Creve- 
coeur, 1680, up to the period of that of Fort Chartres, many 
French settlements had been made in that quarter. The 
principal were St. Vincent's, on the Wabash, and Kaskaskia, 
Kahokia, and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a 
large tract of river alluvion in Illinois, on the Missisippi, 
opposite to St. Louis. But here, being informed that all the 
Illinois had been given up to Great Britain, they crossed the 
river, and established themselves at St. Louis, on the right 



HISTORY, 93 

bank. Many of the French in the settlement just named 
followed them, others went to New Orleans, and those places 
became nearly abandoned. — Nic, pp. 75, 77. 

Some of these people, however, especially those from 
Fort Chartres and Prairie du Rocher, who went to New 
Orleans, finding Louisiana transferred to Spain, returned to 
Illinois.— /6., 79. 

One of the most remarkable occurrences belonging to the 
history of the Upper Missisippi happened at this period, 
in consequence of the change of dominion over the Illinois 
country. The Indians, having become attached to the 
French, refused to acknowledge the sway of the power to 
whom the latter had surrendered the country. This event 
is thus related by Nicollet : — 

*' In the meanwhile, the second year after the treaty of 
peace had elapsed, and the British had not yet been able to 
take possession of Illinois. This was owing to the opposi- 
tion made by several Indian tribes, who, as alluded to above, 
had refused to abide by the treaty, and were waging a most 
cruel war against the British. These tribes had formed a 
confederacy, under the command of Pontiac, a bold warrior, 
who had already become celebrated for his prowess, and his 
devoted attachment to France during the Avhole of the war 
which the latter had carried on against Great Britain in 
America. The confederated Indian army was composed of 
Hurons, Miamis, Chippeways, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, 
Missourias, &c. The name of Pontiac was the terror of the 
whole region of the lakes ; and, by his bands, he effectually 
interrupted the British intercourse with the rest of the nations 
that had remained friendly to that government. The taking 
of Fort Michilimackinac, the attempt at Detroit, and the 
attack upon the schooner Gladwin, on Lake Michigan, are 



94 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. • 

memorable events, evincing a spirit of cunning and daring 
highly characteristic of the genius of the red man. 

" In the winter of 1764-65, Pontiac, whilst engaged in his 
acts of depredation, learned that an armed British force was 
about to start from New Orleans, to take possession ol the 
left bank of the Missisippi. He immediately proceeded to 
the neighborhood of Fort Chartres, accompanied by four 
hundred warriors, to oppose this occupation of the country ; 
and, finding there some Illinois Indians who had placed 
themselves under the protection of the French garrison, he 
proposed to them to join him. But these people, disheartened 
by recent calamities, and, as it were, foredoomed to a final 
extinction, were unwilling to assume a hostile attitude 
towards their new rulers, from whom interest, if not gene- 
rosity, would lead them to expect the same protection which 
they were then receiving. To this refusal, Pontiac replied 
with characteristic energy : ' Hesitate not, or I will destroy 
you with the same rapidity that fire destroys the grass of the 
prairie. Listen, and recollect that these are Pontiac's words.' 
Having then despatched scouts upon the Missisippi and the 
Ohio, he hastened with some of his warriors to Fort Char- 
tres." — iVzc, p. 80. 

He here had an interview with the French commander, 
professed his friendship for the French, and offered his ser- 
vices in resisting the English in attempting to take possession 
of the country. His offers were rejected, of course ; and, 
after a short time, he returned to the north, made peace with 
the British, and received a pension from them. — Ih., p. 81. 

Pontiac afterward resided at St. Louis ; and, on a visit 
to the Kaskaskia Indians, was make drunk, and, while ii. that 
state, was murdered by a Kaskaskia Indian, hired, it is said, 
by an Englishman, named Williamson. This murder roused 
the vengeance of his friends, and brought on wars which 



HISTORY. 95 

resulted in the almost total extinction of the Illinois nations, 
—Nic, 81, 82. 

Pontiac was a remarkably good-looking man ; nice in 
his person, and distinguished by taste in his dress. His 
complexion was very light, approaching that of the whites. 
His origin is uncertain. Some suppose him to have been an 
Ottawa, others a Miami ; but, on the best authority, he is 
stated to have been a Nipissing. — Ih., p. 82. 

The rapid extermination of the Illinois nations of Indians 
affords a vivid illustration of the warlike tastes, the litigious 
disposition, and of the habits of the northern Indians, as well 
as a sad moral lesson on the decay and extinction of races and 
nations. 

At the time when La Sale undertook his great project of 
the discovery of the Missisippi, in 1679, the Illinois were a 
populous and powerful nation. They had, at that time, suf- 
fered greatly in the recent and long-continued warfare with 
their eastern neighbors, the Iroquois, which had not yet 
terminated. The accounts given at that time represented 
that one village on the Illinois river contained, conjecturally, 
ten thousand. Charlevoix mentions only four bands : the 
Tamaroas, at the mouth of the Missouri ; the Moingonas, 
at the Des Moins River, as now called ; the Kaskaskias and 
Kaokias, upon and south of the Illinois river. The Michi- 
gamis and Peorias were, no doubt (certainly the first), of this 
nation ; but whether distinct tribes, or divisions of one or more 
of the other tribes, may be doubtful. The desolating war of 
the Iroquois gave a severe shock to the Illinois, from which they 
never recovered. About seventy years after this period, the 
combined forces of the Sauks, Foxes, Sioux, and Kickapoos, 
in 1752, made a descent by the river, as already related, upon 
a village of the Missigamis, and killed a large number ; and, 
a few years afterward, the murder of Pontiac, a renowned 



96 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

chief Qf one of the northern tribes, who appear generally to 
have acted in concert, by a Kaskaskia, aroused a vengeance 
of those allies, which was unappeased till scarcely the vestige 
of this great nation remained. Thus, about a century of 
savage war exterminated one of the most numerous nations 
on that part of the continent. At this day, the Kaskaskias 
and Peorias number, conjointly, about one hundred and fifty 
persons, which is all that is now to be found of the Illinois 
nation. It is true that the tribes are not always extinct when 
the name is lost, and it is quite probable that many hundreds 
might have escaped the general destruction, who became 
adopted by their vanquishers, or united with other tribes. 
These associations are customary among all the Indians ; 
and instances are very common both of a union with other 
friendly bands, and of adoption of prisoners of war. 

On the right bank of the river, at the period of the found- 
ing of St. Louis, there were no Indians at that place nor in 
the whole extent of country south of what is now the south- 
ern line of the State. Thus, at the conclusion of the wars 
following the death of Pontiac, except a portion of the Peoria 
tribe, who had survived those wars, and who were finally ex- 
tirpated by the Sacs and Foxes in the beginning of the present 
century, the southern portions of the country now forming 
Illinois and Missouri, or that below the Illinois and Missouri 
Rivers, was uninhabited, except by the few French and those 
who held the military posts for the English Government. 

Carondelet, sometimes called familiarly Vide poches, was 
settled in 1767. In 1769, Blanchette, the Imnter, built his 
cabin on the bank of the Missouri, the fii'st building of the 
village now called St. Charles. At the same period Floris- 
sant and Portage des Sioux were first inhabited. 

In 1780,* a party of British and Indians made an attack 

* Nicollet, p. 84. 



HISTORY. 97 

upon St. Louis, and attempted to take possession of it, in 
consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the re- 
volted colonies. There were but 150 males in the place, 
while their invaders numbered, according to the various state- 
ments, from 900 to 1,500. The inhabitants of both sexes, 
the women taking a part in the battle, made such a vigorous 
resistance that the assailants were compelled to retire, after 
revenging themselves by the death of sixty and the captivity 
of thirteen of the inhabitants, who were outside of the pali- 
sades. 

In 1785, called the year of the great flood, the Missisippi 
rose fifteen or twenty feet higher at St. Louis than ever before 
known, and at some narrow points on the river, thirty feet. 
The villages of St. Genevieve, Fort Chartres, Kaskaskia, St. 
Philippe, and Kalioka were totally submerged. St. Gene- 
vieve was at that time situated on a bottom prairie, that has 
since been entirely washed away. 

The winter of 1799 was distinguished for its extreme 
cold : as had been also the year 1768. 

In 1778 a body of Virginia militia, under command of Gen. 
George Rogers Clarke, made an incursion into the Illinois 
country, then in possession of the British, and captured Fort 
Chartres, Kaskaskia, and other neighboring posts on the Missi- 
sippi ; and St. Vincent's on the Wabash, now known as Vin- 
cennes. In the same year the country was organized as a 
county, by the Legislature of Virginia, called Illinois County. 
It was subsequently ceded by Virginia to the United States, 
and in 1787 made a part of the Territory Northwest of the 
Ohio River. In 1800, on the establishment of a separate 
territorial government in Indiana, it was included in that gov- 
ernment, having, at that period, about 3,000 inhabitants. 

In 1803 the United States, by treaty dated April 30th, ac- 
quired of France the whole of the vast and beautiful country 

6 



98 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

known as Louisiana, with the same extent that it formerly- 
had in the hands of France, and that, at the date of the treaty, 
it had in the hands of Spain. 

By act of Congress, of 31st October in the same year, the 
President of the United States was empowered to take pos- 
session of the comitry ceded, and provision was made for 
the temporary government thereof. 

By act of March 26th, 1804, the country was divided into 
two territories. The southern was called Orleans, and em- 
braced the country east of the Missisippi River and south of 
the Territory of Missisippi, and west to the western limit of 
the purchase. The northern portion, being all the remainder 
of the country that was purchased by the treaty, w^as annexed 
to Indiana as a district by the name of Louisiana. Indiana 
had been erected into a Territorial Government by act of May 
7th, 1800, to take effect on the 4th July following : with all 
the rights and privileges which, by the ordinance of 1787, 
for the government of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, 
had been secured to the settlers of the northwest. The act 
of 1804, which annexed Louisiana to Indiana, extended these 
rights and privileges to that district. The executive power, 
which was vested in the Governor of Indiana, was extended 
to tlie district. The Governor and judges of Indiana were 
empowered " to establish in the said District of Louisiana 
inferior courts, and prescribe their jurisdiction and duties ; 
and to make all laws which they may deem conducive to the 
good government of the inhabitants thereof:" provided, that 
no law shall be valid which is inconsistent with the consti- 
tution and laws of the United States, or which shall lay any 
person under restraint or disabiUty on account of his religious 
opinions, profession, or worship, in all of which he shall be 
free to maintain his own, and not be burdened for those of 
ay.other." (Sec. 12.) And it was provided, by sec. 13, that 



HISTORY. 99 

" the laws in force in the said District of Louisiana at the 
commencement of this act, and not inconsistent with any of 
the provisions thereof, shall continue in force until altered, 
modified, or repealed by the Governor and judges of the In- 
diana territory as aforesaid." The laws in force at the date 
of the act were those in force at the time of the cession, and 
prior thereto, under the governments of France and Spain. 
This was the body of law known as the civil law, — and the 
District of Louisiana thus presented the anomaly in law of 
the common law engrafted upon the civil. These laws, it is 
believed, have not been repealed ; but, by the oversight, pro- 
bably of the judges and advocates in the courts, no notice 
has been taken of them, and they have fallen into oblivion, 
and at this day would perhaps be considered as obsolete. 
The whole of Upper Louisiana now stands in this singular 
condition of a country, in which those laws that were not 
only her birthright, but were expressly saved to her by statute 
when the common law was added to her code, have become 
obsolete and lost by the prevalence of the common law, under 
the administration of judges and practice of courts that were 
unacquainted with the civil law, and through inadvertence 
did not consider the force of the statute by which the older 
was retained. 

In 1809 a separate government was established over the 
Territory, now State, of Illinois, consisting of a governor and 
judges, who jointly exercised the legislative functions. At 
that time it contained about 12,000 inhabitants. In 1812, it 
was allowed a legislature and a delegate in Congress. In 
1818 the State Constitution was adopted, and lUinois was 
admitted into the Union. 

At the period of the hostilities between this country and 
Great Britain, which began in the year 1812, our government 
had established a military post, and erected a fort, at Chica- 



100 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

go. This was feebly garrisoned for a short time in the sum- 
mer of that year. On the 15th of August, 1812, Capt. 
Heald, in command of this post, having received orders to 
that effect, prepared to evacuate the fort and to proceed to 
Detroit by land. Having destroyed that portion of the arms 
and ammunition that would not be necessary to his march, 
and could not be conveniently transported, he commenced 
his march with fifty-four regulars and twelve militia, and 
accompanied by an escort from Fort Wayne, and a few 
friendly Miamis. The women and children accompanied the 
expedition. The party had proceeded only a little over a 
mile, when they were attacked by a body of hostile Indians. 
The friendly Indians stood aloof, and Capt. Heald, after a 
short skirmish, in which all the militia and twenty-six regu- 
lars were killed, surrendered on a promise of protection by 
one of the chiefs. The Indian force amounted to 500, their 
loss in the battle was fifteen. 

At the outbreak of hostilities, the Sac and Fox Indians 
resided at the country about the mouth of Rock River. 
They were induced to join the English, and operate with 
them and their other red allies against the United States. 
They were present at one or two skirmishes in the neiglibor- 
hood of the lake, and it is believed that they composed the 
force, or a part of it, of the attacking party at Chicago. I 
think this is asserted in a narration of the wars of that tribe, 
published some years since. But being disgusted, it is said, 
with the barbarous atrocities of the allied English and red 
men, they, in a very short time, abandoned the cause, and 
returned to their country, where they remained quiet during 
the war. 

In 1815, the several tribes of Indians inhabiting the north- 
west, who had been drawn into hostilities with the United 
States, by the wiles and gratuities of Great Britain, made 



HISTORY. 101 

treaties of peace and friendship. The Potawatamis of the 
river Illinois, the Kickapoos, the lowas, the Tetons, the 
Sioux of the lakes, the Sioux of the river St. Peter's, the 
Piankeshavs^s, the Chippewa, Ottaw^a, and Potawatamis, with 
bands of the Wyandot, Delaware, Seneca, Shawnee and 
Miami tribes, all of which eight tribes and bands united in 
one treaty ; the Yanktons, the Sacs of the Missouri, the 
Foxes, the Osages, the Kanzas, the Mahas, each came into 
treaties of amity. The Sacs, of Rock River, were invited 
by the Commissioners on the part of the United States to 
enter into treaty at the same time : they declined it at this 
time, but in the succeeding year, in 1816, they signed arti- 
cles of a treaty of peace and friendship ; and in the same 
year three other tribes of the Sioux, who are designated as 
the Sioux of the Leaf, the Sioux of the Broad Leaf, and the 
Sioux who shoot in the pine tops, also the Winnebagoes of 
Wisconsin River, and in 1817, the Menominis, Ottos, and 
Poncaras or Puncas. In 1819, similar treaties were made 
with the Pani Mahas, the Pitavirate or Noisy Panis, the 
Pani Republic, and the Grand Panis. 

In 1816, the united tribes of Ottawas, Chippewas and 
Potawatamis, residing on the Illinois and Milwaki Rivers, 
and the southwestern parts of Lake Michigan, relinquished 
their right to the lands ceded by the Sacs and Foxes in 1804, 
lying south of a due west line from the southern extremity 
of Lake Michigan to the Missisippi, and also ceded a tract 
beginning on the left bank of the Fox River of Illinois, ten 
miles above the mouth of said Fox River, and extending to 
Lake Michigan, lying on both sides of the Des Plaines 
about equally, and in its whole width twenty miles. 

In 1818 Illinois was admitted into the Union as a State, 
and Missouri in 1821. 

After the organization of the state government in Illinois, 



102 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

the population increased rapidly, and pressed upon the 
Indian territories and settlements. Jealousies arose, aggres- 
sions took place, irritations were created, on both sides. In 

1827, the Indians attacked two keel-boats which were trans- 
porting military stores to Fort Snelling, and killed two of their 
men, and wounded others. General Atkinson, thereupon, 
marched into the Winnebago country, and brought in Red 
Bird, a chief, and six others, who were held in confinement 
for trial. Red Bird died in prison. The others were tried, 
and a part of them convicted, and executed in December, 

1828. Black Hawk, a Sac chief, whose Indian name was 
Muckatai-mishakiahkiah, was one of those imprisoned, but 
he was acquitted for want of proof. It is said that he after- 
ward confessed his participation. His long imprisonment 
increased his former irritation. It had inflicted a rankling 
wound, which the blood of the Americans alone could cure. 
In 1830, a treaty was made by the Sacs and Foxes, and other 
tribes, with the American government, in which they ceded 
all their lands east of the Missisippi. Black Hawk dissented, 
refused to leave the ceded country, and was supported by a 
party of the Sacs. Having received personal abuse and 
insult, it is said, from the whites, instigated by his opposition 
to the treaty, and a desire to retain his old home ; irritated by 
personal indignities, and being promised the aid of the Chip- 
pewas, Ottawas, Potawatamis, and Winnebagoes, and in- 
formed, also, that the British were ready to help him, he 
commenced hostilities. Previously, however, it is said, he 
proposed a compromise with Keokuk, the head of the treaty 
party, and offered to give up the mineral region on the pro- 
mise of Keokuk that he would endeavor to have the Rock 
River peninsula, where they had long resided and cultivated, 
and where they had buried their fathers, restored to them. 
In expectation that this arrangement would be made, they 



HISTORY. 103 

went on their winter hunt in 1830 ; and on their return, in 
the spring of 1831, found their village and country in posses- 
sion of the whites. On the appearance of the United States 
troops. Black Hawk and party, who had previously refused 
to leave their lands, fled across the river. In 1832, they 
re-crossed, when a brigade of one thousand mounted volun- 
teers was organized, armed, and equipped, and immediately 
marched to Rock Island, where they found General Atkinson, 
with four hundred regulars and a small body of militia. 
General Whitesides, the commander of the volunteer corps, 
marched up Rock River, and burned the prophet's town, a 
village of the Indians ; and this must be considered the com- 
mencement of formal hostilities. Upon Rock River they 
found another small band of volunteers, under Major Still- 
man. This last band, having undertaken a scouting expedi- 
tion to the distance of thirty miles north of Dixon's Ferry, 
unexpectedly met a party of Black Hawk's men in ambush, 
and immediately took to a precipitate and disorderly flight. 
Their commander ordered them to retreat to the high ground 
and make a stand ; but so terror-stricken were they, that they 
forgot the latter part of their order till they had reached their 
head-quarters at the river. This rout still furnishes the sub- 
ject of many a quip and piece of merriment at the expense 
of those who were engaged. It is supposed the Indian force 
was about seventy. This was on the 14th of May. On 
the 24th of June, a party of the militia, said to be about one 
hundred and fifty, on their march to Galena, were met by a 
superior number of Indians, about two hundred, and, after 
a severe contest, retired into their blockhouse. On the 21st 
of July, a general engagement took place, near the Wiscon- 
sin, between General Henry's brigade of militia and the 
whole Sac force. Black Hawk was driven from the field, 
leaving sixty-two of his men dead. General Henry's brigade 



104 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

went in pursuit, and, on the next day, reached the Blue 
Mounds ; and being rejoined by General Atkinson and the 
regular troops, and the other brigades, the whole force arrived 
at Helena, on the Wisconsin, on the 26th. On the 2d of 
August they overtook Black Hawk near the Bad Axe, and again 
defeated him in a decisive action. The American force con- 
sisted of four hundred regulars and parts of Henry's, Posey's 
and Alexander's brigades of militia, in the whole 1300 men. 
General Atkinson, in his account of these engagements, 
states that the Indian loss, in both, was three hundred. He 
returns only eighteen killed, and four wounded, of his own 
men, at Bad Axe ; and states the Indian loss at one hundred 
and fifty killed, and thirty-five captured. Black Hawk him- 
self escaped ; but, about three weeks afterward, was brought 
into the camp a prisoner by some Winnebagoes. Thus 
ended the three months' movement, commonly called the 
Black Hawk war. It was succeeded immediately by a ces- 
sion of a strip of country on the west of the Missisippi, fifty 
miles wide, extending north from Missouri to the neutral 
ground, in a treaty concluded by General Scott in September 
of the same year ; and, in the summer of 1833, the settlement 
of Iowa by the white man was commenced. Two small 
strips were successively purchased in 1836 and 1837 ; and, 
in 1842, a vast tract, estimated to contain about 23,000 square 
miles, or 15,000,000 acres, centrally situated between the 
two great rivers, was added to the former purchases. 

On the 1st of August, 1829, by a treaty with the Winne- 
bagoes, the United States acquired a large tract, beginning at 
the mouth of the Pee-keetanon, or Pectanon, and following 
up that river and the Sugar Creek branch, and across north- 
wardly to Fox River, and down the Wisconsin to the mouth, 
and southerly from thence to Rock River, at a point forty 
miles from its mouth, and up that river to Pectanon. A large 



HISTORY. 105 

and valuable tract of about one hundred miles, north and 
south ; and, on its greatest extent, east and west, about the 
same, being 6000 or 7000 square miles. 

And, on the 29th of July, same year, another large tract, 
between Rock River and Lake Michigan, and a strip on the 
Missisippi, from Rock River to the reservation on the Wis- 
consin, was ceded by the Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pota- 
watamis, which cessions included nearly all the land between 
Lake Michigan and the Missisippi, and between Rock River 
and Wisconsin. 

By a treaty, made the 1 5th of July, 1 830, a tract of twenty 
miles in width, extending from the Missisippi to the Des 
Moines, Avas ceded by the Sacs and Foxes ; and another 
similar tract adjoining it on the north, by the Sioux. Its 
southern line, on the Missisippi, is near the Wisconsin. 

On the 8th of February, 1831, the Menominis ceded a tract 
lying between Winnebago Lake, Fox River, and Green Bay, 
on the north, and Milwake River, south, and Lake Michigan, 
east. And in October, 1832, the Potawatamis ceded their 
land lying between Chicago River and Kanakee, and the 
Fox of Illinois. 

In September, 1832, the Winnebagoes ceded the land lying 
on the west of the Rock River, above the Pectanon branch, 
to Lake Puckaway, and bounded west by their cession of 
August, 1829. 

In 1836, Michigan was made a sovereign state, and 
admitted into the Union. A new territorial government was, 
at the same time, organized over Wisconsin, which included 
all the Black Hawk purchase, and extended west to the Mis- 
souri River. In 1838, a new territorial government was 
established over that portion of Wisconsin which lay west of 
the Missisippi, called Iowa. In the five years intermediate 

between the departure of the Sacs and Foxes, in the summer 
6* 



106 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

of 1833, and the establishment of the territorial government 
in 1838, the Black Hawk Purchase had gathered a Avhite 
population of 22,000. In 1840, at the taking of the census, 
in June, it contained 43,000. It is supposed that the usual 
annual increase by emigration since that time has been about 
the same, or something near ten thousand yearly ; and, with 
a sufficient allowance for an augmented natural increase, in 
proportion to the greatly augmented basis, the whole yearly 
addition to the population cannot be less than 12,000, or, for 
the six years, to June, 1846, 72,000 ; which, added to the 
43,000, makes the whole 115,000. This is believed to be 
under the true amount, as, in 1843, and the spring of 1846, 
an unusual impulse was given to emigration by the acquisi- 
tion of new territory, and the allowance for natural increase 
is made very small. It is more probable that the whole 
actual population at this time (July 4, 1846) is 150,000. 

Wisconsin, as constituted by the division into two terri- 
tories, had, at that time, July, 1838, 21,000 inhabitants. By 
the census of 1840, it had 34,000. Its increase in the two 
intermediate years had been much less than that of Iowa, but 
in some subsequent periods it has been very great; and it 
contains, by a recent census, about 160,000. The least total 
amount that can be assigned to the two territories is little 
more than 300,000, at this time. 

Acts have passed Congress, in June and August, 1846, for 
admitting both territories into the Union with the attributes 
of sovereignty. They will probably be adopted by the peo- 
ple ; and, in the present year, two new and bright stars will 
be added to the Union. 

At the moment that Congress was acting upon the admis- 
sion of Iowa and Wisconsin into the Union, a treaty was in 
progress, and is now completed, by which the Potawatamis 
have ceded their lands lying east of the Missisippi, Missouri, 



HISTORY. 107 

and between the Sioux and the Missouri State north Hne. The 
tract contains 6000 or 7000 square miles. The Indians 
have stipulated to remove in tw^o years. By this cession, the 
Indian title has become extinct in the whole tract between the 
Missisippi and Missouri Rivers. The Sioux hold a strip on 
the northern frontier of the new state, which is the only 
Indian country, except the neutral ground, now within the 
limits fixed by Congress for the State boundary. 

The authorities relied upon for the foregoing statements are, Gabriel 
Sagard, Hennepin, Lahontan, Charlevoix, Histoire Gen. des Voyages, 
Paris, 1757 ; Bossu, Lockman, Churchill, Heriot's Hist. Canada, Pike, 
Schoolcraft, Nicollet, Long, Laws of Congress, Public Documents, &c. 



PART III. 



Population — Political System — Civil Divisions — 
Municipalities — Topography. 

The population of this region, at the present time, exceeds 
by computation, 750,000 ;* viz. — in Ilhnois, north of the 
IlUnois River, about 240,000 ; in Missouri, north of the 
Missouri River, about 240,000 ; in Wisconsin, about 160,- 
000; in lovi^a, probably exceeding 120,000. This multi- 
tude has nearly all been planted on the territory v^^ithin 
twenty years, mostly indeed w^ithin fifteen, excepting a few 
scattered settlers on the Illinois and Missisippi and Missouri 
Rivers. Galena was settled in 1828. They are from all 
States of the Union, from Germany, Ireland, England, Scot- 
land and Canada. There are a considerable number of 
Franco- American families from Canada and from the early 
French colonies in the Missisippi valley ; and it is as com- 
mon to hear a certain uncouth French dialect, known in that 
country under the name of Gumbo French (a term applied 
both to the people and the dialect), jabbered in the streets of 

* By the census of 1840, Northern Missouri contained 160,821 ; Northern 
Illinois, including counties that lay across the Illinois River, 160,755 ; 
Iowa, 43,000; Wisconsin, 30,000; total 393,000. I have added 50 per 
cent, to Missouri and Illinois, Iowa has increased at the rate of about 
12,000 per year, which would be 115,000. Wisconsin, by a census just 
taken, is found to have 155,000, and three counties not returned. 



110 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Dubuque, as it is to hear English spoken there. The greater 
part of this population between Illinois and Rock Rivers, 
and between the Missouri and Iowa Rivers, comprising a 
district of some two hundred miles in width from north to 
south, in the centre, but narrowing toward the extremities, is 
from the Ohio Valley and the South. Pennsylvania and 
Virginia, west of the Alleghany, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, 
Tennessee and North Carolina, have sent their colonists to 
these latitudes. North of these lines the larger portion is 
from the Northern States, east of the mountains, and from 
Europe. They are, many of them, men who have not 
derived much knowledge from education, but have been 
schooled only in the world, and learned in the knowledge of 
men. They have shaken hands with privations and hard- 
ships, and with luxury have but little acquaintance. There 
are, however, many well informed, of the softer as well as 
of the rougher sex, living in the homeliest style of rustic life. 
Iowa is divided into 39 Counties, 25 of which are orga- 
nized, — and into townships of greater or less extent accord- 
ing to population, but generally comprehending more than 
one geographical township, into which the whole country is 
first divided by the government surveys. Other portions, 
where the population is concentrated at particular points, are 
incorporated into towns or cities. Between these two last, 
there is very little difference in substance, if any. The mu- 
nicipal authorities have in each very similar powers. In the 
towns, affairs are managed by a single board called trustees, 
and in the other, in the more usual form of Mayor and Alder- 
men. In either case the municipal government has the 
power to assess and levy the taxes, to ordain the by-laws, and 
to appoint the officers. In the townships, as politically 
established, the government is in the hands of inspectors. 
But even in these smaller depositories of power the differ- 



POLITICAL SYSTEM. Ill 

ence consists more in the actual exercise than in legal grada- 
tion. The power to be exerted is little else than appointment 
of minor officers. Those little democracies, erected in some 
of the States under the name of towns, where all the powers 
of the local government are exercised by a vote of the peo- 
ple, are wholly unknown here. 

Lee county is situated in the point between the Rivers 
Missisippi and Des Moines. It is very thickly populated, 
notwithstanding a large portion of its lands were reserved to 
the Half Breeds of the Sac and Fox Indians, and there was 
consequently a difficulty in obtaining title. This difficulty 
has been overcome by purchase and partition, and the settlers 
now are owners of the soil. The Des Moines Rapids ex- 
tend over a greater part of the Missisippi boundary, upon 
which are situated several towns which promise to be among 
the flourishing places of the State. Keokuck is below the 
rapids. It is seated on the bluff, which here comes quite 
to the river, and by its steep and high ascent, makes a very 
inconvenient site for a town. But the advantage of its situa- 
tion overcomes this unkindness of its topographical charac- 
ter, and bemg at the mouth of the Des Moines, and at the 
foot of the lower rapids, at the point where both the obstruc- 
tions of rock and ice begin, and having a good landing, it 
must of necessity have both a rapid and a solid progress. 
Nashville, on the rapids, has a better situation, though this 
also is built on rather a steep ascent. Montrose, at the head 
of the rapids, the site of old Fort Des Moines, is situated on 
a low ground, in a wide part of the river opposite the Mor- 
mon town, Nauvoo. Here there is a broad and handsome 
plat sufficient for a large city. The town has a very slow 
progress, and will not keep pace with some others on the 
river. Fort Madison is the most populous town in the coun- 
ty, situated about twelve miles above the head of the rapids, 



112 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

on the Missisippi, on one of the finest town sites in that part 
of the river. It is an elevated bank, twenty feet or more above 
the water mark, forming nearly a level of sufficient extent for 
a city of the largest class. Its soil is sandy, and from its 
relations with the river must be very healthy. It has at pre- 
sent, by estimation, from twelve to fifteen hundred inhabitants. 
There are some interior flourishing villages in this county. 

Des Moines is next on the river, extending from the Che- 
kakwe or Checaqua River, nearly to the Iowa. Its river 
boundary is not so good as that of Lee county, the bank 
being, for the greater part, a low bottom, and presenting only 
one favorable site for a town, w^iich is at the mouth of 
Shokokon or Flint Creek, at a bluff called by the Indians, 
Shokokon, from the abundance of chert found on the surface, 
and by the Whites, Flint Hills. The Indian appellation or 
mineral feature to which it was owing, should have furnished 
a name to the modern town : and Chertburg, or Shokokon, 
would have as good sound, and more sense, than the thread- 
bare Burlington. The place is partly on the irregidar edge 
of a bluff, and partly on a low bottom, being an inconvenient 
place for a town ; but having had a great impidsion at fii'st 
from the location of the land sales there, and the temporary 
seat of government also, it made a progress, which, backed 
by a very populous interior behind it, and having a good 
landing, has been more rapid than any other place, and it is 
now beyond all other towns in the Territory in population, in 
trade, in prosperity and wealth. The number of its inhabit- 
ants is exceeding two thousand. The county of Des Moines 
is the third in population. Van Buren and Lee being first and 
second. The three counties have probably not much less 
than 40,000 inhabitants, which is very nearly equally divided. 
The land of Des Moines county is good ; there being little 
difference in quality throughout this Territory. Being, how- 



TOPOGRAPHY. 113 

ever, of rather a large proportion of clay, and of rather a 
level surface, it is not ready for the plough so early as some 
lands further north. Augusta is a small village on Skunk 
River, about eight or ten miles from Burlington. New Lon- 
don, Franklin, and other small villages, are scattered upon 
the prairie, in this county. 

Louisa is a very small county on the river, next above 
Des Moines. Wapello, on the Iowa River, is the capi- 
tal. It has two or three other small villages, bat is prin- 
cipally remarkable for having formerly had an Indian town, 
the residence of Black Hawk, within it, and the river 
Iowa running through it. A part of the large island, called 
by the Indians Mascotin (Prairie Island), is in this coun- 
ty. The word, by a natural metamorphosis, has been 
called by the French Muscodin and Muscatine, and under 
that change has given name to the slough or branch of the 
river that divides it from the main, and to the county at its 
upper end, adjoining Louisa. This island presents a singu- 
lar feature in the topography of this part of the river. It is 
nearly twenty miles from north to south, and about half of 
that extent in the other direction, and is a bottom prairie, but 
little elevated above the river, and nearly a mechanical level. 
It is made by a small portion of the river which passes 
around it, joining the main stream again, after a course of 
twenty-five or thirty miles, a short distance above the Iowa 
River mouth. The upper end of the island is about twenty- 
five miles below the mouth of Rock River, and nearly the 
same above the mouth of Iowa. 

Muscatine county, beginning on the island, and extending 
some sixteen or eighteen miles above it, is well watered, hav- 
ing the Red Cedar traversing it from north to south, at ten or 
twelve miles from the Missisippi, in nearly a parallel direc- 
tion, and the Wapsinonoc Creek farther west, a tributary of 



114 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Cedar. This is a well settled county. North of the Iowa 
River the soil loses some of its alumine, with which it was 
rather surcharged in Des Moines, and becomes more mellow 
by an admixture of sand, which is probably silico-cretaceous. 
The surface also becomes more undulating, and the union of 
these two conditions overcomes a degree, more or less, of 
latitude, and the season for beginning cultivation is, there- 
fore, about the same in this distance. Apart from this con- 
sideration, I think the change is for the better in regard to 
fertility, and that the tract of country between the Iowa and 
the Maquoketa, or Makwaketa, is perhaps rather the best on 
the river in this point. It is, however, inferior in another, 
hardly of less importance to the farmer, that is, in the quantity 
of timber. With this article the region now under our obser- 
vation is rather scantily supplied. Bloomington is the county 
seat of Muscatine county. There are a few small villages 
beside, Moscow on the Cedar, and Salem and Wyoming on the 
Missisippi. The City of Ellenborough, a mere embryo with a 
sounding name and a most ample charter, has been projected, 
and having a good site, may at some day exchange its em- 
bryo for an actual existence. Bloomington is a place of 
much business. It has one of the best positions, geographi- 
cally, in the territory, and is one of the most important 
towns. Its population probably is nearly 1500. It has the 
disadvantage of a bad site, both local and relative, it being 
on a steep bluff, and in the immediate vicinity of Mascotin 
Island and Slough above mentioned, which last is apt to be 
a cause of disease. 

The region above Muscatine county, as far as Maquoketa 
River, including Scott and Clinton counties, and part of 
Jackson, is very scantily supplied with timber. It is highly 
fertile, however, and a handsome country. The banks of the 
river, on both sides, from Bloomington to the Wabesepinecon, 



TOPOGRAPHY. 115 

are the most beautiful on the River from the mouth to this 
point; and on the west side, the whole line, for a distance of 
nearly forty miles, from Bloomington to Spencer's Creek, 
would make one continuous city site. Davenport, in Scott 
county, about thirty miles above Bloomington, is on a most 
beautiful inclined plane, almost of a mathematical exactness, 
of a very slight inclination, only sufficient to be perceived by 
the eye, and to shed the waters. It is sufficiently sandy to 
become dry immediately after a rain. This plane extends back 
about half a mile, from the river to the bluff. The banks 
on both sides are high and dry ; and immediately fronting 
Davenport is the town of Rock Island on the Illinois side. 
The river is little more than half a mile wide. Immediately 
above the two towns is the island of Rock Island, having a 
rock foundation : a very unusual character, the islands gene- 
rally, in this river, being alluvial. The scenery at this point 
is very beautiful — said to excel, in this particular, any spot 
below Lake Pepin. 

Some individuals have taken advantage of the division of 
the river into two streams, at this point, to appropriate the 
narrow portion passing between the Island and the Illinois shore 
to milling purposes. By running a dam across at the head 
of the island — ^which, by reason of the very little depth of 
the water, and a rock bottom, they were able to do at a very 
trifling expense — they have availed of this immense body of 
water, being about one-third of the whole volume of the river, 
and with a head of five feet. Beside this, there are several 
other points upon these rapids, where equal advantage may 
be made of the river in this way. And at a time not remote, 
this will become a principal grain market for the country 
around, and a place of great industrial activity. Rockingham 
is a small village four miles below Davenport, opposite the 
mouth of the Rock River. At the purchase of the territory 



116 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

by our government, the Indians reserved a tract of one mile 
square at the head of the rapids, and a similar tract at the 
foot, for Mr. Antoine Leclaire their interpreter. On the lov^rer 
reservation is the town of Davenport, and it is intended to 
have another town on the upper tract. Adjoining the upper 
reservation, above it, is the little village of Berlin. Fifteen 
miles further up the stream is another, Camanche. This last 
is in Clinton county. Fifteen miles to the west of this last 
a town has been laid out for the county seat of the county. 
It is called De Witt. The site is in a handsome prairie, 
having groves upon three sides, at a distance of from one to 
three miles, and to the northward open to a much greater 
distance. There are many eligible spots for settlement in 
this as well as in Scott and all the northern river counties. 
The settlements have been made lower on the stream, and 
have progressed westward a hundred miles from the river, 
while these fine lands have been passed over from a dislike 
to go so far north, — a very insufficient consideration to place 
in the balance against contiguity to the river ; which, furnish- 
ing a great channel for transportation, must always make a 
difference in the price of produce in the river counties by no 
means to be overlooked : while the difference in temperature 
is so slight that neither man nor beast is sensible of it, and 
the feeding season would not be more than a week or two, 
at most, longer in these counties than in the lower counties of 
the territory. Lyons is a busy little village, well situated on 
the river, in this county, about ten miles above Camanche. 
At this point begins a change in the topography of the land 
adjacent to the river. The road from Lyons to Charleston, 
about twenty miles above, in Jackson county, is over a very 
rough, broken country, very little of which, in a distance of 
three or four miles from the river, is favorable to cultivation. 
It is generally covered with timber. The land, however, at 



TOPOGRAPHY. 117 

a few miles back is very good ; and a man who wishes to see 
the handsomest timber in the territory, must go to the forks 
of the Maquoketa or Makwaketa ; and upon its south fork 
are some of the finest prairie and prairie farms. The north- 
ern part of Jackson county, between this river and Dubuque, 
is generally well-timbered and well-watered, and is a very 
inviting tract for settlement. This is also one of the best 
watered tracts in the territory. Makwaketa River, Tetes des 
Morts, Deep, Brush, and Bear Creek, and smaller streams, 
drain the country — some of them having fine water power. 
Twenty-two miles above Charleston is Bellevue, also in this 
county, situated on a fine plateau, well elevated above the 
river. Andrew, in the centre of the county, is laid out for 
the county seat. Between the Wabesepinicon and Makwa- 
keta Rivers, is a region furnished very abundantly with iron. 
At Bellevue, a striking change takes place in the geological 
formation ; the line of the lead mineral commencing here, and 
passing up to the northwest through the counties of Dubuque 
and part of Clayton, and thence east into Wisconsin, defines 
perhaps the richest lead deposit in the world. It is of the 
kind called Galena, or sulphuret of lead. The river marks 
a remarkable division in the character of the " diggings," 
those on the east side being clay " diggings," in which the 
mineral is found in the clay, within a few feet of the surface, 
while on the west side the miner is obliged to sink his shaft 
through the rock more than one hundred feet. It is thought, 
however, that the greater abundance of the mineral in the 
rock deposit is more than a counterbalance to the case of 
obtaining it in the clay. 

Dubuque, situated in a bay of the river, upon a sandy 
alluvion, in the centre of these " diggings," is the second 
town in the territory in population and business. The rough 
character of the country upon the river bank, which, as 



118 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

already said, commences near Lyons, continues through this 
county, and as far north as the settled parts of the territory. 
At the neighborhood of Dubuque, it extends six or seven 
miles. Much of the land near the river is unsuited to culti- 
vation, in consequence of this unevenness of surface. There 
is, however, much excellent farming land in this and in Clay- 
ton county. Some of the Turkey River country is very 
handsome. 

Van Buren county, situated on the Des Moines River, 
back of Lee, is the best interior county, and by many is con- 
sidered the best county in the Territory. It is the most 
populous. The lands generally upon this river have been 
already mentioned as exceedingly fertile and beautiful. 
There is an abundance of good coal here. Keosaqua is the 
capital tow^n, situated in the bend, which the Indians call 
Keosaqua (or Kebesaqua, as Gen. Pike and Major Marston 
have it) peninsula.* There are several other towns in this 
county, populous and thriving. The other interior counties 
of the old purchase, Henry, JeiTerson, Washington, Johnson, 
Cedar, Linn, Jones and Delaware, are of as good land as the 
front tier. Linn county has been said to excel all the others, 
in the more just proportion of timber and prairie land, and in 
the greater depth of its soil. These counties contain no towns 
of consequence, with the exception of Iowa city, the seat of 
government for the Territory, which is situated in Johnson 
county. This young city is situated on a very beautiful 
plateau on the left bank of Iowa River, about eighty miles 
from its mouth, by the windings of the stream, though not 
much more than half that distance in a direct line, and at the 
head of navigation on that river. Small steamboats go up to 

* The writer considers the true name to be Kebe-saki, or Kebe-osaki, 
the last part of the word meaning island, and the same which is used to 
designate the tribe, commonly called Sac. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 1 19 

the city two or three times a year. There is here a fine 
capitol, erected at a cost of over $100,000, and paid for by 
the sales of lots on the section given by Congress for that 
purpose. 

In Jefferson county is the town of Fairfield, in which the 
Land Office for the Des Moines Land District is situated. 
In Henry county is Mount Pleasant, a handsome town upon 
the prairie. This county has also several villages, among 
which is Salem, a settlement of Quakers. 

The other counties, formed out of the late Indian purchase, 
Davis, Appenoose, Wapello, Monroe, Keokuk, Mahaska, 
Powesheck, Tama, Marion, Lucas, Polk, Dallas, Jasper, 
Wayne, Clark, Story, are of a character similar to those of 
the older settlements. The soil throughout has but little 
variation ; and with the exception of a few swamps, and a 
very small number of sand spots of little extent, the whole 
country is susceptible, by the mere upturning of the plough, 
with the most careless after-tillage, of being made one garden. 

Wapello, Mahaska, Marion and Polk, are situated upon 
the Des Moines River, which is already described as contain- 
ing some of the most fertile and beautiful land in Iowa. 

Wisconsin is divided into twenty-four counties. Upon 
the lake are Racine, Milwakie, Washington, Sheboyegan, 
Manitowoc, and Brown. Grant, Crawford and St. Croix, are 
on the Missisippi. The other counties are Iowa, Green, 
Walworth, Rock, Jefferson, Dane, Dodge, Portage, Fond du 
Lac, Marquette, Calumet, Winnebago, Sauk, Richland and 
La Pointe. 

Grant county is in the southwest corner of the Territory, 
situated in a bend of the Missisippi, which washes it west 
and south, and having the Wisconsin on the north, it is 
bounded by a water line throughout, except upon the eastern 
side. Lying within the mineral tract, it has a very valuable 



120 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

deposit of lead ore. The soil is excellent ; but by reason 
of the broken and uneven surface, some portions of it are not 
well adapted to the plough. It has a fair proportion of tim- 
ber, and is a well-watered tract. Beside the two principal 
boundary rivers, it has the Grant, the Platte, consisting of 
two principal branches, one of which is called Little Platte, 
uniting about twent)''-five miles from the mouth, and other 
smaller streams passing through it. Cassville is a small 
village on the Missisippi. It has the advantage of a hand- 
some site, and will probably increase in importance as the 
country to the north and east shall become settled. Lead 
ore has been found in the vicinity, and the lands behind it 
present external indications of containing mineral. 

Platteville is a more populous town, and there is a good 
business done at it. It has a pleasant interior situation near 
the Little Platte River, and is surrounded by a rich mineral 
and agricultural region. The Platte and Grant Rivers afford 
good water power, but are navigable for a short distance 
only. In mere business, Platteville has a rival in Potosi. 
In other particulars, especially in what is pleasing to the eye, 
Platteville has the advantage. Potosi has a larger popula- 
tion, is near the Missisippi, and the centre of very profitable 
" diggings." There is, in all the mining towns, a mixed 
population, the miners, as well as others who follow them for 
supplying their wants, and for making a subsistence from 
ihcm in various ways, being from all parts of the world, and 
some of the last class especially, of rather a " miscellaneous 
character." Among the miners there is a good portion of 
shrewd men, true men and enterprising. Potosi is strongly 
marked with the characteristics of a mining town. Lancas- 
ter, a small interior village, on an elevated ridge, is the county 
scat. It has around it an inviting agricultural country. 

The broken lands of Grant county are, for the most part, 



TOPOGRAPHY. 121 

on the borders of the Platte and Grant Rivers, and in the 
vicinity of the Missisippi. Almost every small stream also 
has its romantic bluifs and dales, but the county notw^ith 
standing has advantages, as an agricultural and grazing coun- 
try, in soil, timber and water, and in its salubrity and its river 
borders ; apart from its exhaustless stores of lead ore, which 
are from time to time laid bare by the enterprise and industry 
of the miners. 

The country generally west of the Pectanon (so called by 
Long), or, as commonly called by the inhabitants, the Peka- 
tonica, and south of the Wisconsin, is rather broken, but 
contains many spots highly suited to agriculture. The coun- 
try, how ever,as a whole, as well as that west of the Missi- 
sippi, is admirably adapted to grazing. Grant county, just 
described, is included in this tract. A portion of Iowa 
county is also within it. This is an extensive county, 
bounded by the Illinois State line and by the Wisconsin 
River, for its south and north boundaries, and is one of great 
capabilities. It has an abundance of lead mineral, and cop- 
per ore also has been found and worked. The eastern part 
of the county is a fine agricultural tract ; and the whole 
country east of Pekatonica, to the lake, may be said to be a 
most delightful and fertile farming region. Mineral Point is 
the county seat of Iowa county. It has also the Land Office 
for the District, and is a point of much business, rendered so 
by the large number of miners engaged in the vicinity, by 
the smelting of the mineral, &c. 

Iowa county contains a large proportion of prairie, extend- 
ing, in its southern part, from Green county on the east, 
westwardly to Grant county, and in its northern part from 
Dane county on the east, along a beautiful dividing ridge, 
which extends westwardly into Grant. On this ridge runs 
the United States road leading from Fort Winnebago to 
7 



122 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Prairie Du Chien. The timber in Iowa county is upon the 
borders of the Wisconsin and Pekatonica Rivers, and in 
beautiful groves scattered here and there upon the surface 
of the prairie. In all the prairie country it is expected that 
the growth of timber will be increased as settlement pro- 
gresses, by the exclusion of fires, and the breaking up of 
the prairie sod. The lead ore region of this county extends 
from the Illinois line north to the Blue Mounds, 36 miles, 
underlying the whole county, longitudinally. But a small 
part of its mineral lands has yet been opened by the spade 
of the miner, and it will be a long time probably before the 
richest lodes will be reached. Most of the lead taken in this 
county is carried to Galena for shipment to market. 

The lead region extends easterly to the waters of Sugar 
River, a branch of Pekatonica, about seventy-six miles, geo- 
metrically, east of the Missisippi at Cassville. With the 
change in the geological character of the country, there is 
also a modification of its topographical features and scenery. 
The surface becomes more even, and gradually assumes the 
appearance more decidedly of a plain country. 

In the southeastern part of Wisconsin, the proportion of 
prairie country is increased, though about the upper banks of 
Rock River, Fox of Illinois, and Maple, all of which head 
within it, as well as upon the small streams, there is a sufii- 
ciency of good timber. Racine, the southeastern county, 
bounded by the Illinois State line and the lake, contains a 
large portion of beautiful and rich prairie with a gently un- 
dulating surface, which is now dotted with numerous thriv- 
ing farms. It has two prosperous and growing villages, 
Racine and Southport, the former containing more than 2000 
inhabitants, the latter nearly that number. The population 
is stated upon conjecture, without precise information, as 
the growth of these lake towns has been so rapid, that the 



TOPOGRAPHY. 123 

ascertained population of one year may be scarcely more than 
a moiety of the succeeding. They are the points of landing 
for the great mass of emigration by the northern route, and 
the quarters, consequently, of a temporary and fluctuating 
population, which drifts thence over the whole surface of the 
territory, and into Illinois and Iowa. The business of these 
towns depends upon the prosperity and increase of the agri- 
cultural population in the interior. 

Milwaukie county is washed on its entire eastern boundary 
by Lake Michigan, on which, at the mouth of Milwaukie 
River, is situated the city of Milwaukie, which has become 
in about ten years from its foundation one of the first class 
of towns in the west. The population of the city exceeds 
8000, or as some suppose, is not much less than 10,000. 
The growth and prosperity of the country may be inferred 
from the fact that in 1 834 there were but two or three build- 
ings on the tract which is now covered by the dwellings of 
its numerous residents. The country contains a wide tract 
of timber land, which lies immediately back of the city, and 
is now well peopled with hardy and industrious farmers from 
the northern States. The surface of the country is undulat- 
ing and its soil very good. The eastern portion of this ter- 
ritory has a great advantage in its connection, by the Lakes, 
with the eastern markets, and being in all the essential attri- 
butes of soil, timber, and water, not inferior to the country 
west of the Missisippi, it is a most desirable country for 
emigrants. 

Proceeding north to Green Bay, the country is more tim- 
bered, and undergoes a radical change of soil. In the neigh- 
borhood of the Bay the soil is sandy, and following the river 
to Fort Winnebago, at the Portage, the country is hilly and 
well timbered. Between Green Bay and the Lake is a 
northern vegetation of white pine, spruce, birch, &c. Near 



124 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Green Bay are large marshes of wild rice and cranberries, 
and near the Wisconsin River, in the western part of the 
Territory, are extensive swamps, having an abundant growth 
of the latter plant. 

The town of Navarino is situated at the head of the Bay, 
and Green Bay is the name of a town on the lower shore 
near its mouth. 

On the north bank of the Wisconsin River, from the 
Great Bend near the Fox portage, running westwardly nearly 
to the Kickapoo, is a range of high, abrupt, thickly-wooded 
mountains, a rare feature in the topography of this country. 

The interior countries, south of the Fox and Wisconsin, 
cover a fine body of farming lands. 

Rock county has a very advantageous situation on the 
upper waters of the Rock River, and has the requisites de- 
sired by the farmer of being well watered and timbered. 
Among the interesting and inviting features of the interior 
counties of Wisconsin are the small lakes found in Dane, 
Jefferson, Fond du Lac, and other counties. The shores of 
these beautiful reservoirs of limpid waters furnish many 
most delightful sites for farms. They are mostly found in 
the interior counties immediately south of the Wisconsin 
River and east of Sugar River, a branch of the Pekatonica. 
In all of them are found excellent fish, the pike of a large 
size, catfish, black bass, yellow perch, mullet, &c. A group 
of these lakes, four in number, stretch from northwest to 
southeast in Dane county, having an outlet in a branch of 
Rock River. This group is called The Four Lakes. Madi- 
son, the present capital of Wisconsin, and seat of justice of 
Dane county, is seated on a narrow isthmus, between the 
third and fourth lakes north. Proceeding northward from the 
southern tier of interior counties, the timber becomes more 
abundant. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 125 

The Blue Mounds, in the northeastern part of Iowa County, 
are remarkable elevations, the greatest height being 1,001 
feet above the level of the Wisconsin at Arena, in the same 
longitude, as measured by Dr. Locke. They are about tvv^elve 
miles from the river, south ; and thirty from Madison, nearly 
west. 

St. Croix is a new county, west of Crawford, on the St. 
Croix and Missisippi Rivers. Though far to the north it is 
finely situated upon the Missisippi, and has very superior ad- 
vantages for the lumber trade. It has great forest wealth, 
containing probably the best pine region in the United States 
next to the lumber tracts of Maine. With this valuable ar- 
ticle of trade, and with very superior facilities for getting it 
to a most extensive and rapidly increasing market — there 
must of necessity be a very large business done in this di- 
rection. It is the opinion of the writer that this portion of 
the district also contains large deposits of copper ore. The 
eastern boundary of this county is the Chippeway River, and 
a line thence running northeasterly to the Michigan state line, 
and with that line to the Lake : its western is coterminous 
with the Territory ; its northern with the United States, ex- 
tending from about 44 J° to 49^. Such was its boundary till 
1845, when it was divided, and La Pointe, a new county, 
made in 1845, has been taken from that portion of St. Croix 
which was north of the mouth of Muddy River and Yellow 
Lake. 

Crawford county is also of great extent ; including nearly 
the whole space northerly from the Wisconsin to the Michigan 
state line. This county has the Wisconsin on the south, the 
Missisippi southwest, the Chippeway on the west. It is 
watered also by the Bad Axe, Black River, Prairie La Crosse, 
and several other streams. Its breadth from east to west is 
by no means proportioned to its great north and south stretch. 



126 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

It has a variety of soil and a diversified scenery. There is 
an extensive bottom between the two main rivers, on which 
is situated the old French town of Prairie Du Chien, three 
or four miles from the Wisconsin, a scattered settlement, 
rather than a town. It had been long occupied by the French, 
having been settled about the period of the revolution, and 
was a considerable trading post, and a rendezvous for the 
Indians and British. In 1814 the United States established 
a garrison there, and still maintain it. Within a year or two 
a deposit of copper ore has been found in this vicinity. On 
the Wisconsin is an abundance and variety of valuable timber, 
especially white pine. This is perhaps to be considered as 
the southern limit of the pine region, though scattered groves 
of it are found further south. 

Since the purchase made of the Chippewas in 1842, of a 
tract of land which covered the northwestern peninsula of 
Michigan, six counties have been laid off therein, by that 
state. They are Michilimackinac, Schoolcraft, Chippeway, 
Marquette, Ontonagon, and Houghton. There are few settlers 
on the tract. The eastern point of the peninsula is a spot of 
peculiar beauty. Owing to its latitude, and to its vicinity to 
the lakes, the united influence of temperature and exposure 
to the winds, it is not to be desired for agriculture. A great 
portion of the tract is, no doubt, rich in copper ore, and other 
mineral wealth. 

There are thirty-seven counties of Illinois wholly or par- 
tially within the district treated of in these notes. Joe Davies, 
Carroll, Whiteside, Rock Island, Henderson, Mercer, Han- 
cock, Adams, Pike, Calhoun, are on the Missisippi River. 
The two last are on the Illinois also, being bounded by both 
rivers. Whiteside and Rock Island are on Rock River also, 
as well as on the Missisippi. Lake and Cook are on the 
Lake Michigan. Brown, Fulton, La Salle, Marshall, Peoria, 



TOPOGRAPHY. 127 

Putnam and Schuyler are also on the Illinois river beside 
Calhoun and Pike above-named; Rock Island, Whiteside, 
Ogle, and Winnebago, on Rock River. 

Joe Davies is a mineral district. The lands about Galena, 
Fairplay, and Elizabeth, and in some other "diggings" in this 
county, are very rich in mineral. The county has a good 
soil, but is not of great value as an agricultural country, by 
reason of the broken nature of its surface. It is drained by 
Sinsinew^a, Fever, Small Pox, and Apple Rivers. The country 
at the head of Apple River is a very beautiful and fertile 
district, and contains some handsome farms. The population 
of the county has greatly increased since the census of 1840. 
It was then 6,180. It nov^ probably exceeds 10,000, of which 
nearly half is at Galena. 

The first settlements were made in Galena, in 1828. This 
place is situated about three miles from the Missisippi, upon 
a little stream commonly called Fever River, or otherwise 
Bean River, being by the winding of the stream, six miles 
from its mouth. The river was first named by the French, 
and it is now disputed whether the appellation bestowed by 
them was F6ve, or Fievre. The circumstance that a small 
stream next below, and but a small distance from it, is called 
Small-Pox, and that the first place has had its share of the 
fevers of the country, may seem to favor the idea of the 
Fever. The pulse may be consulted to decide the important 
question. 

By a law of Congress of February 5th, 1829, the Surveyor 
of the Public Lands was directed to lay out a town on Bean 
River, in Illinois, at and including Galena. 

The town increased with a great rapidity. Miners pressed 
in from all quarters, and it became at once the metropolis of 
the lead diggings. Such it is, and will, no doubt, continue. 
It is most singularly situated, on the side of a steep bluff. 



128 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

and consists of two narrow streets running parallel with the 
river ; and, though they are placed as near as possible, the 
foundations of the houses upon the second are upon a level 
with the roofs of the first. Such is the business in this little 
nook, that the lower street always presents the appearance of 
a large and thronged city. Scarcely any street, in any city, 
has more of a crowd and bustle. Lately, some houses have 
been built on the opposite, or left, bank of the river, which 
is a better site than the original ground. 

The lower part of Joe Davis, and the adjoining part of 
Carroll, is a very sterile tract, quite unusual in this country, 
except in a few points where the sand has been heaped up by 
the streams or the winds, or by the joint action of both. 
One of these causes, probably the river, was the agent in pihng 
up sand here for several miles in extent, where, perhaps, 
there was formerly a deflexion of the river, or an expansion 
into a lake. Carroll county may not be ranked among the 
good agricultural counties, and is without minerals. Pro- 
ceeding down the river, the land improves in quality. 
Whiteside has more good land. In this county Fulton has a 
good situation on the river, and a pleasant site. The exor- 
bitant ferry charges have some influence in deciding against 
the prosperity of so small a village. Albany, also on the 
river, is a small village, with a site rather inferior to the 
former place. 

Rock Island is at the mouth of Rock River, extending a 
long distance on the Missisippi, in a narrow strip, having the 
little villages of Cordova, Port Byron, Hampton and Moline, 
and the town of Rock Island on the river. The latter is a 
place of some business, has 1000 or 1,200 inhabitants, and oc- 
cupies nearly the site of the old Sauk village, called Senisepo 
Kebesaukie, Rock River Peninsula. It is at the foot of the 
Upper, or Rock River, Rapids, opposite Davenport, known 



TOPOGRAPHY. 129 

to all who pass the river as the most attractive in natural 
scenery of any place within the usual route of the boats. 

Mercer, Henderson, and Hancock, have some good land, 
but a large amount of waste upon the river, and an undue 
proportion of prairie. The towns of New Boston, Oquawka, 
Navoo (the city of the Mormons), and Warsaw, are upon the 
river in these counties, the two last in Hancock, as also 
Carthage, the county seat, back from the River. Hancock is 
a populous and important county. Warsaw, situated at the 
mouth of the Des Moines, has a commanding position. It is 
partly on the bluff and partly below. It will be the depot 
for a considerable back country in Illinois, and for the pro- 
ducts descending the Des Moines, which last will be of great 
amount when the State of Iowa shall become more popu- 
lous, and the navigation of the river shall be improved. It is 
also the point where, in low water, the steamboats discharge 
their cargoes, which they are unable to transport over the 
rapids, the town being a short distance below. From here, 
the keel-boats, laden with goods, are towed up by a class of 
light draught steamers. 

Adams, the next county on the river, is, in territory and 
population, one of the most important in the State. Quincy 
is the largest and best built town on the left bank of the river, 
between Alton and Galena, with the exception of the city of 
the " saints," so called as " lucus a non lucendo." Quincy 
is one hundred and fifty miles above St. Louis, and over one 
hundred and twenty above the mouth of the Illinois River. 
It is the depot for the trade of a large country north of the 
river, and a populous, handsome, and flourishing town, with 
the Land Office for the district. 

Below Adams, a large tract, extending from river to river, 
forty miles or more in average breadth, and from north to 
south about the same, is formed into the county of Pike. It 



130 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

is the fourth county, in population, of Northern IlHnois, or, 
rather, it is one of the four highest ; for, without a late census, 
the numbers are only matter of estimate, and there is not, pro- 
bably, a great difference in amount between the four. 
Adams, Cook, and Fulton, may be supposed to contain from 
eighteen to twenty thousand each, and Pike sixteen or seven- 
teen thousand. 

Cook, Adams, Fulton, Pike and La Salle, are among the 
most populous and valuable counties in the State. Cook is 
on the lake. By the census of 1840, there were 10,201 
inhabitants. Since that time, about 4000 have been added 
to the town of Chicago, and it is probable that the county 
now contains 18 or 20 thousand. Chicago has now about 
10,000. It is the foremost town in the State in population 
and business. It is the principal port on the lake for north- 
ern Illinois and Iowa. Here great quantities of wheat and 
other produce are shipped, partly brought across the country 
from Iowa, for the New York market ; and most of the pas- 
sengers by way of the lakes, are landed at this place and at 
Milwakie. The Land Office for the District is here. 

La Salle is an extensive county lying on both sides of 
the Illinois River. It is above the navigable waters of the 
river. The Illinois and Michigan canal passes through it, 
and it is thereby rendered accessible both from the lake and 
the Missisippi. It has probably exceeding 15,000 inhabit- 
ants. 

Ottawa is the county seat, situated at the junction of Fox 
River, on both sides of the river, a few miles above the 
lower rapids. 

Bureau, Kendall, and Peoria, follow, in descending the 
Illinois. Peoria is important for its population and ex- 
tent ; its fertility, and resources, and business ; and in the 
beauty of its situation is not exceeded by any portion of 



TOPOGRAPHY. 131 

country on the banks of this river, which drew so much the 
admiration of travellers to the country in former times. 
The town of Peoria is situated on the river, at or near the 
site of old Fort Crevecoeur, at the foot of the Lake Peoria, 
a little more than 200 miles from the mouth of the river. 
This fort was built by La Sale, as a point d'appui for prose- 
cuting the discovery of the Missisippi. It is the county 
seat, and a place of much business. 

Fulton, Schuyler, Brown and Pike, the last extending 
to the Missisippi, and already described, cover the most 
valuable, fertile, and beautiful tract, in the State, except 
some part of the land upon Rock River : in two important 
conditions having advantage over the last, being some two to 
three degrees farther south, which gives them a more propi- 
tious climate for agriculture, and a more genial ; and also 
having an open navigation generally through the year, while 
Rock River is locked up through the winter, and has but a 
difficult navigation at any time. Fulton is in the first class 
of counties for population. Spoon River waters this county, 
and enters the Illinois about forty miles below Peoria. 

Schuyler is below Fulton : not varying much from it in 
soil, in which particular both are highly favored. Schuyler 
is less populous than Fulton. It has Crooked Creek passing 
nearly centrally through it. Rushville is the county seat, a 
place of some business. Brown county is less populous than 
Schuyler. The latter contains about 10,000 inhabitants, the 
other, two-thirds of that number. 

For some miles above the point of junction, the two rivers 
approach very near together, and pursue an almost parallel 
course. The narrow peninsula is formed into the county of 
Calhoun. 

Knox, Kane, Warren, are populous interior counties. 



132 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Knoxville, Monmouth, Macomb, and other villages, are upon 
this tract. 

Illinois presents in general an agreeable and beautiful suc- 
cession of grove and prairie, similar to the country west of 
the Missisippi, varying slightly in two particulars, rather to 
the disadvantage of the former ; — the proportion of timber is 
rather scanty in Illinois, and of consequence the prairies 
more extensive ; — and the soil is not of so great depth as on 
the west side of the river. The prairie on both sides, how- 
ever, is extremely fertile, and very agreeable to the sight. 

This region, or any portions of it, must be seen to be 
appreciated. Much better is a man's own eye to convey a 
faithful description to him, than the tongue of another. The 
quiet beauty of the prairies, the graceful outUne of their sur- 
face, or the rich, mellow, genial, quality of their soil, is not 
understood without inspection ; nor does the mind of one 
only accustomed to the recesses of forest or mountain 
scenery, or to the still narrower barricades of vision formed 
by the high and compact lines of masonry in a city, take in 
the idea of a broad expanse of plain, stretching to the hori- 
zon on every side, without tree or shrub ; unfenced ; and 
still, after miles of travel, presenting a similar scene, limited 
only by a similar horizon ; adorned only with a variegated 
carpet of luxuriant flowers ; relieved only by the graceful 
undulations of its surface. 

The country about Yellow Creek, a small tributary of 
Pectanon, presents a very beautiful specimen of prairie 
scenery. As you approach it from Galena, it rather sud- 
denly appears to view in coming over a ridge, and the eye 
is astonished with the unexpected and agreeable presentation. 
Near the head of Little Rock River is another beautiful but 
different view. Yellow Creek is in the state of nature. 
Little Rock River is a handsome prairie covered with a 



TOPOGRAPHY. 133 

cluster of the neatest looking farms, with handsome fences 
and handsomer buildings, altogether presenting the most 
agreeable picture of agricultural life, ever seen by the writer. 
Such are some of the topographical characteristics of the 
branches of Rock River. This country has been highly 
commended, but the reality will not be found to be exagge- 
rated by the description ; — the original cannot be heightened 
in the picture. 

Ogle, Winnebago and Whiteside, and Rock Island, are 
counties upon Rock River. They contain some of the best 
specimens of western lands and western farms. Great quan- 
tities of wheat are raised here and in the whole Rock River 
country. 

Northern Missouri has forty-three counties. In its other 
political organization it is similar to Iowa. 

The counties are : St. Charles, Lincoln, Pike, Ralls, Ma- 
rion, Lewis, and Clarke, on the Missisippi ; Warren, Mont- 
gomery, Calloway, Boone, Howard, Chariton, Carroll, Ray, 
Clay, Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, Allen, on the Mis- 
souri ; and Audrain, Caldwell, Davies, Clinton, Livingston, 
Macon, Randolph, Monroe, Shelby, Knox, Scotland, Schuyler, 
Adair, Linn, Highland, Putnam, Mercer, Grundy, Harrison, 
Gentry, De Kalb, Nodoway, between the rivers and the north 
line of the state. 

Northern Missouri presents no very striking change in its 
geology or in the essential features of its physical geography 
from the characteristic formation and internal structure, or from 
the superficial aspect, of the country, that has been described. 
It is a limestome country, and a plain. The principal points of 
difference are that in the eastern portion the proportion of prairie 
is rather less, and the soil much thinner. The subsoil is similar. 
Springs are not so abundant. The larger proportion of timber 
is an improvement in point of scenery. Proceeding west and 



134 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST 

south these differences diminish ; and on following the Mis- 
souri the land is perhaps equal to the best on the Missisippi. 
The land first described is that portion east of the ridge which 
divides the waters of the Missisippi from the tributaries of 
the Missouri. It is about one degree in width between the 
ridge and the Missisippi, and extending from the Missouri 
River to the north line of the state, a little less than two de- 
grees. The four main branches of the Chariton, and the 
eight or ten of the Grand River, pouring down their streams 
in nearly parallel courses, from north to south, and in very 
close contiguity, the whole dozen or fourteen streams being 
within the range of a degree and a half, or about a hundred 
miles, forms a peculiar feature in the topography no less than 
in the hydrographic character and agricultural capacities of 
this region. It is needless to say that such a country pos- 
sesses fine farming lands : and beyond the Grand River 
westerly to the Missouri, particularly the Platte valley, is 
equal to any other, and presents strong allurements to emi- 
grants. 

A great difi'erence in the social condition of this portion of 
the tract exists, in the institution of slavery : and a conse- 
quent difference is produced in the industrial pursuits, which 
everywhere distinguishes free from slave labor. This is 
the only portion touched by our notes where slavery is 
allowed. 

St. Charles' county lies between the Missisippi and the 
Missouri, extending back fifty miles, and being, in greatest 
breadth, about twenty. At the point of confluence of the 
two rivers, is a large tract of low bottom land, extremely 
fertile, but subject to overflow at the occasional high waters 
of the river. The upland above is rolling, being in nearly 
equal parts prairie and timber, watered by Cuivre, Big Creek, 
McKoy's, Femme Osage, and Dardenne : the land pretty 



TOPOGRAPHY. 135 

good, for this portion of the country. The county contains 
iron, coal, and it was formerly supposed that there was copper 
on the creek, which the French, from that belief, named 
Cuivre. Some marble also exists, and potter's clay and 
Spanish brown, of good quality. The county is divided, 
politically, into five townships, and has several towns laid 
out, the principal of which is St. Charles, a very pretty town 
on the left bank of the Missouri. The settlement of St. 
Charles was commenced in 1780, while that country belonged 
to Spain : — and soon after emigrants began to go there from 
the United States. Emigration was encouraged by the 
Spanish policy of granting lands to settlers. It is about 
twenty miles from St. Louis, has increased very greatly in 
twelve or fifteen years past, and now contains probably about 
7,000 inhabitants. Portage des Sioux, an old French village 
on the Missisippi, contains about 400 inhabitants. 

Lincoln county is on the Missisippi, next to St. Charles on 
the north. A considerable portion of the lands of this county 
are covered with old Spanish grants. The quality of the 
land generally is not good, along the river counties from the 
Missouri to the north line of the state. There is a wide strip 
of bottom land, part of which is low and subject to overflow. 
Along the travelled road through this county, and for some 
distance north of it, water is very scarce. Troy is the county 
seat, and a well-built town, twelve miles from the Missi- 
sippi. 

Pike county, the next on the north, was originally mostly 
a timbered tract of land, and has many streams passing 
through it. The largest of these is Salt River, which runs 
through the northern part of the county. It is said to be of 
good soil, compared to some of the neighboring country. 
There are several mills in the county. Bowling Green is 



136 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

the capital town. Elk Lick is medicinal. Clarksville and 
Louisiana are villages on the Missisippi within this county. 

Ralls county, on the river, next north of Pike, has some 
branches of Salt River passing through it, and Spencer's 
Creek. It is said also to have good springs. Iron, sulphur, 
and coal are found within it. New London is the county 
seat. 

Marion county has a portion of its lands drained by Salt 
River, North and South Creeks, and North and South Fabius. 
It has coal of a good quality, and it is said to possess nitre 
in great abundance. There are several salt springs. As 
nitre is an element of fertility, the county should be pro- 
ductive, and it is considered to be so. There are many 
mills on the streams within the county. Palmyra is the 
capital, a very handsome flourishing town. Here is the land 
ofiice for the northern district of this state. A town is laid 
out on the river, called Marion City. Hannibal, also on the 
river, is a flourishing town, and a place of some trade. Salt 
River, which has been mentioned as passing tlurough 
portions of this county and Pike, is the largest stream be- 
tween the Missouri and Des Moines, flowing into the Missi- 
sippi. 

Lewis county is north of Marion. It is advantageously 
situated on the Missisippi, being favored with two or more 
good landings. The site of La Grange is high and dry. 
The county is watered by Wyaconda, North, and South 
Fabius, and Fox creeks. Monticello, in the centre, is the 
county seat. 

North of Lewis, and the most northerly river county in 
the State, is Clarke. The land of this, as of the last 
county, is good, the soil becoming better toward the northern 
part of the State, than in the counties lower down, near the 



TOPOGRAPHY. 137 

Missouri. St. Francisville is the principal town, situated on 
the Des Moines River. 

Warren, Montgomery, Callaway, Boone, Howard, Chari- 
ton, Carroll, Ray, Clay, Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, 

Holt, Allen. • 

This range of counties on the Missouri contain generally 
a richer soil than those on the Missisippi. Howard county 
is populous, well timbered, abounding in coal, not of the 
best quality so far as worked, and watered by several small 
creeks. The large streams called Chariton and Grand River 
flow into the Missouri in Chariton and Carroll counties. 
Boone is the second county in the State in population, next 
to St. Louis ; Howard is the third. Boone contains about, 
or exceeding, 25,000. Howard over 20,000, estimating from 
former rate of increase. Accurate information on this point, 
at this time, however, is wanting. Callaway, Clay and Ray 
are also populous counties. The tract comprising Howard, 
Boone and Callaway must be considered the best in the 
State, as it is the most populous. It is inhabited by farmers, 
whose industrious and skilful cultivation of the excellent 
land upon which they have settled, has made them easy in 
circumstances, and developed the resources of a rich coun- 
try. Columbia is the county seat of Boone, centrally 
located. Fayette is the capital of Howard. Glasgow, on 
the river, in the same county, is a flourishing town. The 
southern portion of the country, which is the subject of these 
notes, is passed with less observation than that comprised 
within the territories, as being both better known, and also 
the less interesting to many, because more populated, and 
therefore offering less inducements to settlers. The soil also 
below the Des Moines is inferior to that north of that river, 
and the country by no means so inviting. Portland, Frank- 



138 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

lin, Chariton on the river, and Carrol and Hunts ville back 
from it, are towns of some importance. 

It has already been said, in treating of the physical geo- 
graphy of this country, that it was remarkable for the great 
number of lakes. • 

The lake region extends from 49° to 43°, or over six de- 
grees of latitude, and lies chiefly to the east of the Tchan- 
sansan (or James), in 98° of long. From the head waters 
of the Des Moines to the country about the heads of the 
Missisippi, they are so numerous on the western part of the 
valley, that a small addition to the water surface would 
make it doubtful whether it should be called land and lake, 
or sea and island. South of 43° the remaining four degrees 
of lat. to 39°, is traversed by a vast number of running 
streams ; and these two portions may be very properly dis- 
tinguished, with reference to these grand characteristics, as 
the river country and the lake country. 

It will be at once perceived, on stating this difference in 
the hydrographical features of the country, that there is a 
corresponding difference in the topography ; that the inclined 
plane of the southern portion, reaching its summit, is changed 
for the more level plane ; and that the northern part is less 
cut and scooped by the numberless deep ravines that mark the 
lower country, serving it as channels for draining it into the 
principal streams. 

The upper country is described by Nicollet as very beau- 
tiful, and affording many fine farm sites. 



PART IV. 



Society. — Laws. — Pursuits. — Life. — Habits. — Health. 

— Public Lands. 

The population of the Upper Missisippi is of various origin 
and mixed character. The germ is French. Colonies from 
France, and from the French stock in Canada, were first 
established at several points in this valley ; and, from time 
to time, the voyageurs, or French boatmen, and the coureurs 
des bois, or traders, have visited nearly every part of this 
extensive region, some of whom fixed a temporary residence, 
and others a permanent dwelling, among the native tribes, 
with wliom they became mingled, and frequently connected 
by marriage. The descendants of these French, both of the 
unmixed and the mixed blood, are numerous in the country, 
and to them many accessions from the same race have been 
made in modern time by emigration from Canada. A great 
part of this population is illiterate : though among them are 
many persons of good education, fine intellect, and a refine- 
ment, peculiar to their nation, beyond that of the best of the 
other population. Such may be found in the humble and 
laborious occupation of digging in the mines. I lodged in 
the house of a farmer, one of these people, on the banks of 
the Missouri, opposite to St. Charles, having the refinement 
of the French gentleman, and a mind capable of discharging 



140 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST 

the functions of the highest offices in the nation. He had 
been acquainted with the country twenty-five or thirty years, 
and had been to the mountains, as many of these men do. 
It is not uncommon for young men of wealthy famiUes in St. 
Louis to leave the refinements and luxuries of the city for a 
trading trip to the mountains, or to Santa Fe. To this initial 
population have been added, Germans, English, Scotch, 
Irish, and a mixture from each of the States. They are, 
of course, of every shade of character ; and the traveller 
from the denser and older portions of the world would fre- 
quently have his astonishment excited, on entering a very 
rough log-cabin, consisting of one room, with a puncheon 
floor and mud chimney, to find a farmer of a cultivated mind 
and manners,* or a lady who has graced the gay and fashion- 
able parties of the city, or, frequently, her superior, whom 
education has endowed with the solid and shining accom- 
plishments of woman, and fitted for the highest spheres of 
life. Among these may be found, in most free intercourse 
and fellowship, the differing and various shades of character : 
the rough in extreme, but honest and worthy ; the vulgar and 
clown of all shapes and dimensions, whether rich or poor, 
laboring or professional ; the counterfeiter and horse-thief, 
sitting side by side with the judge and senator. There is a 
general and equal association of all persons, without regard 
to character, condition, or circumstances, making society one 
smooth and perfect level. This is not a very agreeable con- 

* The remarks of Mr. Birkbeck, an intelligent and observing English- 
man, who came to Illinois about the period when it became a state, made 
in relation to the western people generally of that time, will, I think, well 
apply to the population now inhabiting this portion of it: — " Refinement," 
he says, " is unquestionably far more rare than in our mature and highly- 
cultivated state of society ; but so is extreme vulgarity. In every depart- 
ment of common life, we here see employed persons superior in habits and 
education to the same class in England." 



SOCIETY. 141 

dition ; but it is the result of circumstances in a new country, 
where all are poor, where all are incommoded, all seeking 
the one thing needful (worldly speaking), and seeking it in 
the same way, and surrounded by nearly similar accidents. 
The ladies in the towns are not very easy under it, and try 
to remedy it; but they go again to the other extreme, and the 
result of the separation and selection which is adopted in the 
little towns is infinitely amusing, and a sufficient burlesque 
upon the more pretending, but generally equally oddly- 
assorted, select circles of the rich and vulgar in the larger 
cities. This condition of things is rather unfriendly to the 
courtesies and premeditated civilities of social intercourse, 
which are still more hindered by that want of acquaintance 
which is a necessary incident to the sudden filling up of a 
new country with people from all parts of the world. There 
is a general prejudice against the New Englander throughout 
the south and west, which, among the ignorant here, amounts 
to detestation ; but, with this exception, the population agree 
very well. 

The condition of the territories in regard to schools is not 
good, and the standard of education is low in the whole 
country, including that portion within the States. The 
standards of the bar, the pulpit, and in medical science, are 
all at a low point. A young man who has had a schooling 
of one year, and the same amount of reading in law, fre- 
quently without instruction or direction, sometimes by an 
apprenticeship, is made a lawyer ; such, at least, he is 
designated by legislative enactment, and the license of the 
court, but he is often, in a double sense, an infant in law. I 
believe a less qualification suffices for the pulpit, or the prac- 
tice of medicine. There are also instances of a similar 
want of preparation in other pursuits. Persons are fomid 
engaged in trade, and employed in some of the mechanic 



142 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

arts, without having passed the usual apprenticeship. 
This condition of things pervades the whole fabric of 
society. Judges have been appointed here of less than 
twenty-five years of age, and of only two or three years' 
practice at the bar ; and a judge of that green age sits alone 
on a trial involving life or death ! In this way, the laws are 
administered, under the sanction of Congress and the gov- 
ernment of the United States ! 

There has been a singular and radical change of the sys- 
tem of law by which this country is governed. The whole 
of this territory was first discovered and settled by French- 
men, and charters and ordinances for its government were 
granted and established by the king of France. By this 
means, the civil law was extended over the country, and be- 
came the birthright of its inhabitants, in the same way and 
by the same means that the common law became the birth- 
right of the original thirteen States. The country west of 
the Missisippi was afterwards possessed and governed by 
Spain, which, as well as France, has the civil law for its code. 
Thus, in the portion of country west of the Missisippi, the 
civil law prevailed by a double title ; — both by birth and 
baptism it became the law of the land. It has never been 
formally abrogated, yet it is utterly extinct. By the ordi- 
nance of 1787, for the government of the Northwestern Ter- 
ritory, the common law was extended over that country ; 
and, by subsequent enactments, it has been established west 
of the river. Perhaps it was supposed that the system of the 
common law was so entirely repugnant to that of the civil, as 
to operate a repeal of the latter. It is, however, more pro- 
bable that the lawyers and judges, who had been practitioners 
of the common law, did not inquire if that might be engrafted 
on the civil, but wholly overlooked the fact that the latter had 
ever had force there. However that may be, whether by 



LAWS. 143 

some real or supposed efficacy of the ordinance, or by some 
other means, the principles of the forum have been sup- 
planted by those of Westminster ; — and the common law, 
with some statute modifications, is the only law. 

The character of the legislation is not so good as it might 
be. The members of the legislature are mostly very young, 
and uninstructed in the principles of legislation or the ope- 
ration of law. The enactments are of course neither con- 
ceived in wisdom nor drawn up with skill. In this particular, 
however, some of the old states are not at all in advance. 
The most objectionable enactments of the territories will 
stand comparison with the laws of Maryland. 

Society here is yet in that stage when a man's only thought 
is to gain a subsistence ; and he cannot give attention to the 
improvement or refinement of his own mind, or of the public 
mind or morals. 

By the constitution of Iowa, however, a most extensive 
and solid foundation for a system of Public Schools in that 
State has been laid, by the following provisions : 

'^ 2. The General Assembly shall encourage, by all suit- 
able means, the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral 
and agricultural improvement. The proceeds of all lands 
that have been or hereafter may be granted by the United 
States to this State for the support of schools, which shall 
hereafter be sold or disposed of, and the five hundred thou- 
sand acres of land granted to the new states under an act of 
Congress distributing the proceeds of the public lands among 
the several states of the Union, approved A.D. 1841, and all 
estates of deceased persons, who may have died without 
leaving a will or heir ; and also such per cent, as may be 
granted by Congress on the sale of lands in this State, shall 
be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, together 
with all the rents of the unsold lands, and such other means 



144 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

as the General Assembly may provide, shall be inviolably 
appropriated to the support of common schools throughout 
the State. 

"3. The General Assembly shall provide for a system 
of common schools, by which a school shall be kept up and 
supported in each school district at least three months in 
every year ; and any school district neglecting to keep up 
and support such a school, may be deprived of its proportion 
of the interest of the public fund during such neglect. 

"4. The money which shall be paid by persons as an 
equivalent for exemption from military duty, and the clear 
proceeds of all fines collected in the several counties for any 
breach of the penal laws, shall be exclusively applied in the 
several counties in which such money is paid or fine collect- 
ed, among the several school districts of said counties, in the 
proportion of the number of inhabitants in such districts, to 
the support of common schools, or the establishment of 
libraries, as the General Assembly may from time to time 
provide by law." 

The principal employments here must always be those 
connected with agriculture. The soil, greatly superior as it 
is to all other within tlie United States, cannot fail to invite a 
crowd of laborers to the harvest. But it is better even for 
grazing than for tillage. The grasses, in several varieties, 
grow with astonishing luxuriance. Some of the bottoms bear 
a grass from eight to nine feet high. 

The prairies have been mentioned and partially described 
already. The geological structure of these lands was ex- 
hibited, and the general appearance of their surface indicated 
in speaking of the physical geography of the Upper Missisip- 
pi. The prairie lands are similar on both sides of the Mis- 
sisippi. Conjecture is at fault in endeavors to account for 
their origin. Two circumstances unite to retain them in 



PURSUITS. 145 

their condition, and prevent the growth of grove and forest 
over the spaces covered only with the long grass and flowers. 
The roots of the grass are exceeding tough, and form a 
sward which keeps down the slower vegetation of the em- 
bryo forest, which is here, as elsewhere, conceived within the 
mould of the teeming earth. This sward is so compact and 
strong, that five or six yoke of oxen are necessary for a 
breaking team, with a very large plough running on wheels, 
called a prairie plough. The other circumstance adverse to 
forest growth, beside the sward, is the annual burning of the 
prairies by the Indians and hunters, which has been prac- 
tised since the country was first visited by the French in the 
seventeenth century, and is said, by the discoverer of the 
Missisippi, to be an old custom of the natives. The bodies 
of timber are almost exclusively on the streams, and the 
spaces between are prairie ; presenting, at their junction, the 
similitude of shore and sea ; which likeness, no doubt, in- 
duced an old sailor (whom 1 know) to fix his residence and 
build his house on one of these points, as the projections of 
the groves into the prairie are called, where, in prospect lay 
before him a wide expanse of prairie 

" Stretching 
In graceful undulations, far away 
As if the ocean in his gentlest swell 
Stood still, with all his rounded billows fixed 
And motionless — " 

The prairie has, for the most part, this undulating surface. 

Some of it is broken by ridges and deep ravines, some only 

slightly undulating, sufficient to shed the waters, some a dead 

level as true as could be drawn with a line. Of course 

some of these tracts of prairie are wet, others dry. On 

these prairies, so long as the country is only partially settled, 

8 



146 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

and the lands unappropriated and unfenced, the cattle of the 
neighboring settler make their summer range, finding the 
most abundant and the sweetest pastures. At the end of 
their summer feeding these cattle are all good beef without 
any stall feeding ; and the butter is the most delicious in the 
world. During a residence of six years in Iowa, the writer 
scarcely ever ate butter that was not superior to the choicest 
butter to be purchased in any of the eastern cities. The 
prairie grass is also cut by the farmer for his winter feeding, 
and supplies a coarse but sweet and excellent hay. In most 
places in the new settlements it is the only hay used. In a 
few years' mowing, however, the weeds succeed to the grass, 
and it becomes necessary to go further for the hay, or to 
introduce the English hay upon the farmer's own grounds. 

The cost of breaking the prairie is from $1,50 to $2 per 
acre, at this time, in the older parts of Iowa, and other places 
where settlements have been made ten or fifteen years. In 
the newer settlements, it is always higher ; and all expenses 
of living, and the price of labor, are greater. In the first 
settlement of Iowa, as high as $5 an acre was paid for 
breaking. The wages of a farming hand was then from $25 
to $30 a month; now, it is about $8 to $10. Provisions 
tlien bore about the same proportion to the present prices. 

The cost of making a prairie farm at this time in the river 
counties, or in the parts of Iowa known as Scott's purchase, 
comprising all the country to which the Indian title was 
extinguished prior to the treaty of 1842, is subjoined : 



PURSUITS. 147 

Price of a quarter section, 160 acres, at $1,25 per 
acre $200 

Breaking forty acres, at $2 - - - - - 80 

Fencing with post and rails, 5 rails high, 40 acres, or 
5280 feet, 6 rails for every ten feet, including 1 to 
each pannel for post, will take 3168 rails, at about $1 
per hundred, say $32 ------ 32 

Cost of setting uncertain. 

$312 

The price paid for getting out rails is usually 62h cents a 
hundred. If brought from a distance, the transportation will 
of course increase the price. They are brought down the 
Missisippi, and sold at the landing at the foot of the Upper 
Rapids, at $2 a hundred. 

The cost of a cabin maybe set down at $50 to $150; 
and with stable and sheds, may make the whole amount to 
$500. 

Eighty acres of land is quite sufficient, — will yield as 
much as 200 acres in the east, and, especially while the pas- 
ture and hay may be taken from the public lands, should be 
the limit of a farmer's purchase. This would reduce the 
cost $100, or save him that sum to add to the improvements. 

The product of an acre ranges from 50 to 80 bushels of 
Indian corn, from 30 to 40 bushels of wheat, from 70 to 80 
of oats. All the roots grow with great luxuriance, onions 
attaining to five or six inches in diameter ; radishes, and the 
long roots, to double the common size in the east. Potatoes, 
and other garden vegetables, are of superior quality and 
abundant yield. 

The farmers of this country are generally men of good 
habits, and of good information and sense. They are also 
hospitable and kind. With the small expense which I have 



148 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

set down, and with the addition of a little farm stock,* a far 
mer makes himself comfortable, nay, independent, for life. 
He has, it is true, a rough dwelling, but warm, and his table 
is abundantly supplied with all that is produced on the soil, 
and generally with the necessaries from the stores. He can 
have his bread, and potatoes, and beef, and pork, almost 
without a thought. He knows nothing of the toil, cost and 
skill requisite to manage a farm east of the mountains. His 
cattle range the richest pasture in the world, and his hogs 
find their food in the abundant mast of the groves. His 
plough merely turns the sod, and no artificial garden mould 
can be made to rival the fertility and easy tillage of his 
fields. The only thing that can be suggested unfavorable to 
the soil of this country is, that its very great productiveness 
may not be propitious to habits of industry in the cultivator. 
Standing upon the bluff of the great river, and casting 
around the eyes of the mind over the transvisual and into the 
future, I behold, at no distant point of time, but in clear and 
close prospect, a vast plain, and beautiful more than vast, 
surpassing in fertility and easy culture the most favored 
regions of the earth, stretching westward from the Missisippi 
to the Upper Missouri, and eastward to Michigan ; and from 
the mouths of Illinois and Missouri northward to 45°, to St. 
Peter's, and the Coteau des Prairies, covered with a hardy 
and industrious population, — one great magnificent garden — 
clothed in green and gold ; smiling with a harvest, the boun- 
tiful supply to the inhabitants of the whole world. This 
tract covers six degrees of latitude, comprising about 150,- 
000 square miles, or 100,000,000 acres. So very trifling is 
the unproductive land, that, with a reservation of the neces- 
sary wood-land and the portion devoted to the support of the 

* Horses are worth from $40 to $60, cows $10 to $12. These are the 
best prices when they are put in market. 



PURSUITS. 149 

farm animals, one half of this amount may be put under 
plough if necessary ; and yielding thirty bushels to an acre, 
which, saving casualties, is below the average of the wheat 
crop ; its product would be 1,500,000,000 bushels for a 
year, or of Indian corn, double that quantity : — and this 
without the use of foreign fertilizers, almost without toil. 
The chemistry of nature can do no more to make the earth 
yield her increase, than has been done here. God has never 
offered a richer vineyard to the hand of man to dress and to 
keep than this which is now spread out in prospect fair and 
wide, and offered to the multitudes harassed and anxiously 
striving for subsistence against the excessive competition of 
the thronged avenues of life and living east of the mountains, 
and to the famishing millions of the superannuated hemi- 
sphere beyond the sea. 

The Upper Missisippi, surpassing all other districts in 
agricultural capabihties, is even more superior as a grazing 
country. I think it not too much to say that a given number 
of acres here, in the best parts of the tract, would support 
more than double the number of cattle which the same quan- 
tity of land will feed east of the mountains. Very superior 
beef is made upon the summer range, not surpassed by the 
best stalled meat. It makes butter not equalled by any other 
feeding. And it is said that sheep increase their size and 
their fleece upon the prairies. The advantages over other 
countries for wool growing may be perceived at once by a 
short statement. The sheep have the summer range upon 
the prairie without cost, and the expense of their winter 
feeding is trifling. The prairie hay is put up by the farmers 
at a cost of $1.50 to $2 per ton. Suppose a thousand sheep 
will be wintered on one hundred tons of hay, which is near 
enough to the truth, beside their other food. The cost of 
one hundred tons of hay will be from $150 to $200. In 



150 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

most parts of the country hay is worth at the lowest 
$10 per ton, and the expense of their feeding would be 
$1000. Here is a difference, at the least, of $800. Their 
other feeding would farther diminish the sum total of the 
expense. In this business of wool growing a farmer may 
make himself independent for life with $1000 or $2000. 
The cost of getting it to market at Boston or New York 
does not exceed one cent per pound, a mere trifle on the 
value. 

The exports of wheat, hides, wool, beef, and pork from 
this region may be made to supply the world. There is 
even now a large excess over the consumption of the coun- 
try. Great quantities of wheat are converted into flour by 
the mills of the country, which make the best quality of 
superfine flour. The advantages for milling are not sur- 
passed, and the making of flour will, in a very short time, 
become one of the great branches of industry of the coun- 
try. Butter and lead will also be heavy items of export. 

Mining is one of the principal pursuits of the inhabitants 
of this region. There are probably from three to four thou- 
sand, or more, persons digging for lead in the mineral dis- 
trict. This tract, as has been already stated, extends over a 
portion of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. There are about 
fifty furnaces employed in smelting the mineral. 

The veins vary from one inch to one foot in thickness ; 
and also differ greatly in the depth, or descending extent. A 
vein of half an inch thick will usually give a profit for 
working it, in rock digging, where blasting is necessary. 
The crevices which contain the veins of ore, usually run 
from east to west, nearly, with a small variation. This 
direction is very uniform ; though some have been found 
quartering, and a few, chiefly from Mineral Point to Wiscon- 
sin River, having a north and south direction. Those which 



PURSUITS. 151 

have been found running to this point on the west of the river, 
are very small veins. 

There are two modes of digging for the mineral ; by sink- 
ing a shaft or vertical aperture, which is the more usual ; or 
by opening a drift, which is the name given to a horizontal 
cavity. In many cases, in working a shaft in the rock dig- 
gings, on the west side of the river, the digger goes down 
more than a hundred feet before finding a crevice. 

The horizontal angle of the crevices varies from zero to a 
right angle, the same crevice taking alternately all directions. 

Some skill is necessary in selecting the spot for operations. 
The proper ground is known to the experienced miner, by 
several indications. The form of the surface is one of the 
signs. The ground has usually a depression transverse to 
the general slope. There is sometimes a change in the 
vegetation. A rank growth, in a direct line, of the long- 
rooted plants, is one of the indications. Pieces of crystal- 
lized lime are found on the surface, which are familiarly 
called the lead blossom, and, on digging, detached fragments 
of rock containing some mineral are usually taken out very 
near the surface, and sometimes found without digging, 
called gravel mineral. Black flowers imprinted on the rock, 
as if by the action of gunpowder, resembling ferns, are also 
indications of ore. When these signs are sufficient, the 
miner commences " prospecting," as he calls it. 

The ore, or " mineral," as it is always called by the 
miners, is found in crystalline form, from the smallest size 
visible, to masses of half a ton in weight. It is usually 
found in black or ferruginous clay. It sometimes fills the 
whole crevice, and is then called " sheet mineral ;" some- 
times in detached pieces, and is called " chunk ore." In 
the rock diggings there is usually a thick stratum of lime- 
stone overlying the rock which contains the mineral, which 



152 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

superior stratum is called the " cap rock." The fissures 
containing the ore frequently expand into large caverns. 
They are generally, in this case, found studded with stalac- 
tites of calcareous spar on the roof. 

In the clay diggings the ore occurs in detached fragments, 
and is called "float mineral." 

The surface of the ground, in certain parts of the mining 
district, is completely honeycombed with the shafts of the 
diggers, to the danger of cattle and travellers. The work- 
men descend into the shafts, and raise their mineral by 
means of large tubs fixed to a rope and windlass. The 
mineral is very pure, generally yielding about 80 per cent, 
of lead. An analysis of two average specimens of galena 
is given in Mr. Owen's report as follows : — 

1st spec. 2d spec. 

Sulphur 16.00 14.63 

Lead 84.00 85.37 



100.00 100.00 

Mr. Owen, in his report to the government, gives the fol- 
lowing statement of the process of mining : — 

" When a miner sets out in search of lead ore, he usually 
begins by what is called ' prospecting ;' that is, on those 
spots where surface or other indications lead him to expect a 
discovery of ore, he commences digging holes or sinking 
shafts, usually on the summit or \he declivity of a hill. 
Should he fail in the first attempt to reach gi'avel mineral, or 
to come upon any signs of neighborhood to a fissure, he soon 
abandons the spot, and begins to dig elsewhere. The ground 
in many portions of the lead districts is found riddled with 
such pits, called, in the language of the Wisconsin miner, 
* prospect holes.' Should he reach encouraging symptoms, 



PURSUITS. 153 

or actually strike upon a vein, or upon detached pieces of ore 
ranging downwards, he continues his labor, often with very- 
great profit. 

" When, after preliminary examinations, he decides to sink 
a shaft, with the view of striking a crevice, he is compelled, 
until he reaches the rock, to wall up the shaft with logs. 

*' These shafts, of irregular form, usually approaching a 
cylinder, are generally from four to five feet across. Some- 
times the rock is soft enough to be quarried with hammer, 
gad, and pickaxe ; at others, it is found necessary to blast it 
with gunpowder. 

" The mode of descending is by means of a rope of raw 
hide, and a common windlass worked by one or two men. 
By the same simple contrivance, the ore is raised to the sur- 
face. Sometimes, but rarely, ladders are used to ascend and 
descend. 

" When a miner is fortunate enough to discover a produc- 
tive vein accessible from a hill-side, he forms a drift, and 
very conveniently conveys the ore out in wheelbarrows — of 
course, at a very trifling expense. 

" The shafts are sunk in this lead region to the depth of 
fifty, one hundred, or one hundred and fifty feet. They are 
usually abandoned as soon as the mine is inundated with 
water, unless the miner, by drifting (that is, working horizon- 
tally) until the external surface of the hill is reached, can 
readily drain the mine. There is but a single instance in the 
district where a mine has been prosecuted after being flooded 
with water, which could not thus be got rid of — namely, at 
Hamilton's diggings, near the Peccatonnica, where the mine 
is readily drained by a small steam-engine. The water in 
this mine was struck at the depth of thirty feet, and the mine 
has been worked with profit thirty-five feet below that point. 

" In the deeper diggings, the c/amp (carbonic acid gas) 



154 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

sometimes accumulates in such quantities towards the bottom 
as to render it dangerous to work. This happens chiefly in 
the hot months of summer ; and at such seasons the miners 
are frequently compelled to discontinue their labors. 

" The means of ventilation yet employed are very simple. 
A cloth funnel, its upper portion so placed as to receive the 
breeze and to deflect it into the shaft, is the only contriv- 
ance. 

'* The lead ore, which, wdth a few local exceptions, is 
alone found or worked in this district, is the galena, or sul- 
phuret of lead ; the same species of ore from which nearly 
all the lead of commerce is derived. 

'' One of these local exceptions, however, is to be found 
at Mr. Brigham's mines, near the Blue Mounds, where car- 
bonate of lead is raised in considerable quantities along with 
the galena. This carbonate is also found in other portions 
of the district. It is very easily reduced — more so than the 
sulphuret, inasmuch as the carbonic acid is more readily 
expelled than the sulphur." 

The value of the lead sent down the Missisippi annually 
for several years has been something over one million dollars. 
A considerable quantity also goes by the lakes to New York : 
and probably, taking into the computation what goes out in 
both directions, and what is used in the country, the whole 
produce of the mines is one and a half milHon dollars. 

It is evident, upon an examination of this statement, that 
the business of mining is not a very profitable one to those 
engaged. Taking the whole value to be one and a half 
million dollars, of which one-third goes to the smelter, we 
have one million dollars to be divided among, say 3,000 la- 
borers, or three hundred and thirty-three dollars to each, as 
the result of the year's labor. But this is very unequally 



PURSUITS. 155 

distributed; and perhaps ninety in each hundred actually 
realize much less than this, while a few make fortunes. 

In the northeastern part of this district, on lands south of 
Lake Superior, lately purchased from the Chippewas, is a 
body of copper ore, supposed to be the richest in the world. 
It is almost pure in some specimens : so that, as taken from 
the earth, it was wrought into church vessels by some of the 
French who first visited the place ; and a portion of the 
large rock deposited in the ground of the War Department at 
Washington has been polished so as to present the appear- 
ance of sheet copper. Many companies and individuals have 
taken leases of the government, and commenced operations 
there. Some of them have had good success, and have found 
silver as well as copper. This will no doubt soon be an 
important business, and give regular employment to many 
persons. The iron and coal will also at no distant time be 
worked ; and in Clinton and Jackson counties, in Iowa, in 
the great coal district in Illinois, and perhaps on the Des 
Moines, in Iowa, will be a great number of laborers engaged 
in quarrying coal, and in digging and working iron. 

In the territories of Iowa and Wisconsin, which comprise 
the principal part of the district subject to these notes, the 
chaimels of industry are not yet shaped by the small and ir- 
regular streams that have only partially occupied them. The 
business of the country has hardly yet taken a direction ; and 
all the secondary pursuits, trade, the mechanic arts, the pro- 
fessions, have not acquired the consistency or development 
of matured form. The professions are doubly stocked ; the 
other pursuits are many of them not sufficiently filled ; there 
is that languor in industry and enterprise, necessarily conse- 
quent upon a rapid growth. The circulation is sluggish — 
the arteries are not well filled with a healthy fluid. Money 
is wanting, wealth, means, men, enterprise, are needed, to 



]56 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

bring up the business of the country to a parallel with its 
population. The first has moved on with a slow and laggard 
step, while the last has pressed on with a series of continued 
strides outstripping the imagination. Men and capital, men 
with capital, and men skilled in the arts, and enterprising, are 
they who are wanting there. Mill-wrights, and millers, tan- 
ners, and leather-dressers, saddlers, shoe-makers, wool-card- 
ers, brick-makers, brick-layers, stone-masons, and carriage- 
makers — traders with capital, knowledge, and liberal views 
of trade, will all find a broad field and a fair chance. 

The emigrant comes to this country frequently in his large, 
covered freight wagon, drawn by four horses, containing his 
household utensils, called, in the language of the country, 
plunder : his wife, and girls, and small children, put in to 
make stowage, and himself, and one or two of the bigger 
boys on foot, driving the cows and hogs. In this way he 
travels day after da}'', and week after week, sometimes month 
after month, stopping by the side of a brook at night, cooking 
his food with the wood lying near, making his supper with 
spice superior to that of the Indies — a good appetite — and 
sleeping at night on the bank of the stream, where he had 
before' spread his table : his board and couch supplied by 
nature. If the weather is inclement, all bundle into the wagon 
or on the ground, beneath its cover, and slumber there. When 
he finds a place that suits him for settlement, if it is unoccu- 
pied, he is of course at no loss for accommodation. He has 
the same lodging that he had upon his journey, and, being his 
own entertainer, any defects in the entertainment will not 
make a difference between such good friends. He lodges in 
the wagon or by its side, cooking his repast from the faggots 
lying in the grove, till he has laid up a log cabin for his resi- 
dence. This is generally constructed of logs as taken from 
the grove, unshaped, and with the bark on : with a puncheon 



LIFE. 157 

floor, as he calls it, that is, made of split logs not sawed or 
dressed, with a chimney of sticks and mud, and with one 
door and one half-window. The chinks of the cabin are 
stopped with chunks of wood and filled in with mud. In 
this residence, consisting of one apartment, with a furniture 
corresponding with the style of the architecture, his family 
of half a dozen find accommodation, and travellers are lodged 
when they ask it. 

Here he lives in content ; breaks up forty acres of prairie 
and fences it, drops his seed, and, without the expense or 
labor of spreading foreign fertilizers over his field, has an 
abundant crop. His bread and potatoes come almost at his 
bidding. He lives an easy and a happy life, certainly. He 
treads upon flowers. His path is literally strewn with them. 
The prairie around his cabin is a flower-garden. The dew, 
which is only poetry to the man of imagination, and sparkling 
romance to the novel-reading miss of the city, is to him an 
every-day reality, bathing his feet when the lark sings to his 
going out in the morning ; spreading his fields with a silvery 
mantle, and filling his stacks with a golden harvest. 

But life in a new country has its privations and hardships. 
Notwithstanding the ease with which he gets bread, there 
are many of the comforts of living that he cannot obtain. To 
the man who has been used to them, their loss is severely 
felt ; but to the roving emigrant, to the real pioneer, they are 
unknown. He has always hung on to the skirts of civilisa- 
tion, but without knowing its advantages or comforts ; and, 
whenever a new purchase has been made, his wagon-wheel 
has pointed the way to the settlers coming after him. Thus 
he passes his life : sojourning in the purchase a few years 
till another is made, and then hastening away to a new abode 
to occupy that in turn till a settler upon a neighboring town- 



158 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

ship, or a new acquisition from the Indian, furnishes an 
incentive to move again further west. 

This first class of moving emigrants, or pioneers, com- 
monly select for their residence a position in a grove, or 
dense body of timber, where, by the exclusion of sunbeams, 
and almost of the atmosphere, a perpetual dampness reigns. 
This is frequently upon a low bottom, or on the banks of a 
stream. Though he has no intention of passing his life there, 
yet the fancied wealth of the timber region, its superior 
value, as he thinks, over the prairie, decides his choice in 
favor of that position ; and, neglecting the high, open, 
healthy prairie, that spreads before him, a sea in extent, a 
virgin soil unequalled and inexhaustible, where, in two years, 
he might be the possessor of a rich farm, he seeks the immer- 
sion of a dense and damp forest, where, with his poor cabin 
and his habits of life, his exposure and hardship, combined 
with the atmosphere and the decaying vegetation, the fever 
and ague is soon added to the list of his comforts, and sets 
its mark of pallid emaciation on the countenances of the 
family. This injudicious selection has led to the supposition 
that the country was more unhealthy than, in fact, it is. 

The following, from Birkbeck's Notes, is a lively picture 
of Western life in some positions ; exhibiting the effect of a 
situation like that above-mentioned : — . 

" Our journey across the Little Wabash was a complete 
departure from all mark of civilisation. We saw no bears, 
as they are now buried in the thickets, and seldom appear by 
day ; but, at every few yards, we saw recent marks of their 
doings — ' wallowing' in the long grass, or turning over the 
decayed logs in quest of beetles or worms, in which work the 
strength of this animal is equal to that of four men. Wan- 
dering without track, where even the sagacity of our hunter- 



HABITS. 159 

guide had nearly failed us, we at length arrived at the cabin 
of another hunter, where we lodged. 

" This man and his family are remarkable instances of the 
effect on. the complexion produced by the perpetual incar- 
ceration of a thorough woodland life. Incarceration may be 
a term less applicable to the condition of a roving backwoods- 
man than to any other, and especially unsuitable to the habits 
of this man and his family : for the cabin in which he enter- 
tained us is the third dwelling he has built within the last 
twelve months ; and a very slender motive would place him 
in a fourth before the ensuing winter. In his general habits, 
the hunter ranges as freely as the beast he pursues. Labor- 
ing under no restraint, his activity is only bounded by his 
own physical powers. Still he is incarcerated — ' shut from 
the common air — ^buried in the depth of a boundless forest — 
the breeze of health never reaches these poor wanderers. 
They are tall and pale, like vegetables that grow in a vault, 
pining for light.' 

" The man, his pregnant wife, his eldest son, a tall, half- 
naked youth, just initiated in the hunter's art, and thi'ee 
daughters, growing up into great rude girls, and a squalling 
tribe of dirty brats of both sexes, are of one pale yellow, 
without the slightest tint of healthful bloom. 

" In passing through a vast expanse of the backwoods, I 
have been so much struck with this effect, that I fancy I 
could determine the color of the inhabitants if I was apprised 
of the depth of their immersion ; and, vice versa, I could 
judge of the extent of the clearings if I saw the people. The 
blood, I fancy, is not supplied with its proper dose of oxygen 
from their gloomy atmosphere, crowded with vegetables 
growing almost in the dark, or decomposing, and, in either 
case, abstracting from the air this vital principle." — Notes, 
138, et seq. 



160 . NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

This description of Mr. Birkbeck may not be exaggerated 
in reference to some portions of the population. Indeed, it 
strikingly reminds the writer of some specimens he has met 
with ; but it would lead to great error if taken as a picture 
of the country. In other situations, remote from the streams, 
and on high ground, particularly in the prairies, the country 
cannot be said to be unhealthy. In all parts of the country, 
it is true, the fever and ague and bilious fever are rather fre- 
quent ; but there is also an exemption from some of the dis- 
orders prevalent in other parts. The usual forms of colds, 
hoarseness, coughing, sore throat, and pulmonary affections, 
are almost unknown. Bilious disorders and affections of 
the liver are the diseases of the country ; but, it is believed, 
there has been less fatal sickness, and less of prevailing epi- 
demics, than in most other portions of the country in the first 
settlement and turning up of the soil. The case described 
by Mr. Birkbeck was partly owing to situation, but more, 
probably, to habits of life, and privations and exposure. 

Apart from the partial causes of disease existing in parti- 
cular situations, arising from the exhalations of the rivers, 
the decaying vegetation of the bottoms overflowed and left 
dry, or the marshy or wet grounds which are not strangers to 
any country, there is no general unhcalthiness in the climate 
itself. The atmosphere of the country is in an unusual 
degree adapted to the preservation of health ; as is proved by 
its effects upon the throat and lungs. The prairies send not 
forth pestilence ; and what is purer than the breeze from the 
lakes ? The temperature is variable, it is true ; but the air 
is arid and the circulation free and brisk, and these qualities 
forbid that the great and sudden vicissitudes should create 
disease. These changes are sometimes so great in a brief 
space as to be incredible. The writer is conscious that it 
requires an easy faith to believe the assertion tliat he once 



HEALTH. 161 

knew Fahrenheit to fall from 52 plus to 4 minus in twenty-four 
hours. 

The greatest degree of cold in a winter is greater here than 
on the Atlantic in the same latitude, as the philosopher would 
judge from his science, without the testimony of a witness. 
The great reservoir of latent caloric, in the deep bed of the 
Atlantic, must of necessity mitigate the extreme rigor of the 
atmosphere from the earth. In a residence of sixteen years 
on the Missisippi, the writer thinks that no winter passed 
when the thermometer did not go as low as 24 below zero, 
by Fahrenheit, in lat. 41° to 42^. There is not, however, a 
great deal of snow in the winter, nor is there generally much 
rain in the summer. In most of the seasons within the 
writer's observation, the crops would have suffered by drought, 
if it had not been for the abundant dews. 

The spring is a shorter season here than east of the moun- 
tains. Wild flowers make their appearance from the 10th to 
the 15th of April. The fall is a most dehghtful season. The 
heats of summer correspond exactly, measuring by the ther- 
mometer, with other places in the same parallel. But the 
atmosphere is not so dense, and of course the heat has a 
greater effect upon the human system, and the rays of the 
sun, coming with less refraction, produce a stronger glare 
upon the eye, as v/ell as a more scorching heat in the veins. 

Next to the air in preserving health, perhaps superior to it, 
is pure water. This is a limestone country, and of course all 
the water is impregnated with this stone. The writer is no 
physician ; — but he considers a limestone water as particu- 
larly favorable to health. The water is of an agreeable taste, 
pleasant, and very clear. But the inhabitants have a very 
disgusting practice of drinking from the rivers and running 
streams, into which every unclean thing enters. The bucket 
is thrown from the steamboat within one or two rods of the 



162 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

crypt that serves one or two hundred persons. All the 
dwellers on the banks carry their water from the same pol- 
luted stream. And if a more fortunate resident on the banks 
of a creek drinks from a less vitiated source, yet this is not 
without its share of decaying vegetation and other matters 
injurious to health. This is a surprising inattention to com- 
fort and decency, as well as to health, when it is known that 
a pure spring may generally be struck at twenty or thirty feet 
from the surface. 

If with this impure and unhealthy habit, joined to the ex- 
posure from the dwelling, from its insufficiency as a shelter, 
from unaccustomed labors and hardships, and from the exha- 
lations of undrained and of newly cultivated country, the 
amount of sickness and of mortality is not more than double 
the amount in a like population in other parts, the climate of 
the country ought to be considered salubrious. 

A few remarks extracted from " Peck's Guide to the West," 
inserted in that work as a quotation, have the concurrence of 
the writer : — 

" Much disease, especially in the more recently settled 
parts of this country, is consequent to neglecting simple and 
comfortable precautionary means ; sometimes this neglect is 
owing to misdirected industry, and at others to laziness or evil 
habits. 

" To have a dry house, if it be a log one, with the open- 
ings between the logs well filled up, so that it may be kept 
warm in winter ; to fill up all the holes in its vicinity which 
may contain stagnant water ; to have a good clean spring or 
well, sufficient clothing, and a reasonable supply of provisions, 
should be the first object of a settler's attention. But fre- 
quently a little wet smoky cabin or hovel is erected, with the 
floor scarcely separated from the ground, and admitting the 
damp and unwholesome air. All hands that can work are 



HEALTH. 163 

impelled, by the father's example, to labor beyond their 
strength, and more land is cleared and planted with corn than 
is well tended ; for over-exertion, change in the manner of 
living, and the influence of other debilitating causes, bring 
sickness on at least a part of the family before the summer 
is half over. 

# 4« # * * # « 

" Many persons, on moving into the back woods, who have 
been accustomed to the decencies of life, think it is little 
matter how they live, because no one sees them. Thus we 
have known a family of some opulence to reside for years in 
a cabin unfit for the abode of any human being, because they 
could not find time to build a house ; and whenever it rained 
hard the females were necessarily engaged in rolling the beds 
from one corner of the room to another, in order to save them 
from the water that poured in through the roof. This cabin 
was intended at first as only a very temporary residence, and 
was erected on the edge of a swamp, for the convenience of 
being near to a spring. How unreasonable must such people 
be if they expect health !" 

THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

The immense body of unappropriated and unsettled lands 
in this country, comprising more than 270,000,000 acres,* is 
commonly denominated government lands, and in all action 
upon them, both by individuals and by public bodies, legis- 

* By the returns in the Land Office, dated June, 1845, which is the 
latest return, the whole amount purchased of the Indians, and yet in the 
hands of the Government, not granted to individuals, surveyed and un- 
surveyed, amounts to 272,825,055 acres. At the time of writing this note, 
a treaty, just concluded with the Potawatamis, and also another, are before 
the Senate. These will probably make the amount about 300,000,000 
acres. 



164 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

lative or judicial, they are treated as the property of the 
government ; — as if the government held them in fee simple. 

Such an idea of an estate in fee in the government cannot, 
however, be sustained upon any recognized principles of politi- 
cal law in this country. In England, it is true, the doctrine for- 
merly obtained that the property of all the lands in the realm was 
vested in the crown, and that the king might dispose of them 
as pleased him, without restriction. Under our government 
an original tenure in fee of the lands within the national do- 
main, has never been acknowledged as an incident of sove- 
reignty, or as in any way an attribute or prerogative of the 
government. The government with us is considered to have 
neither power, domain, prerogative, property, nor revenue, but 
as trustees for the States, and expressly given by the con- 
stitution. 

Such dominion as the government have over the public 
lands is not original, but acquired — it gives them not an estate 
in fee, but an interest in nature of a right of possession with 
a lien or mortgage, for the payment of the expenses of ex- 
tinguishing the Indian title, of surveying and of bringing into 
market ; and that interest not in the nature of a usufruct, but 
fiduciary. 

The Indian nations who formerly inhabited or roamed over 
these lands knew nothing of separate property, nothing of 
estates in fee, or less — they recognized no tenure, or investi- 
ture of title. Their claim was to a right of hunting. By 
their treaties they give up that to the government of the United 
States. And it is all they have to give. They cannot convey 
more. They cannot convey what they do not possess. They 
do not convey any absolute title, but relinquish their claim, 
which is a right of possession merely. No person, or body 
politic, or community, can convey to another what such 
person or body has not in itself : nor can any grantee acquire 



PUBLIC LANDS. 165 

any title by grant from another which the grantor did not 
possess. 

What is the Indian title ? It is mere occupancy for the 
pm'pose of hunting. It is not like our tenures. They have 
no idea of a title to the soil itself. It is overrun by them, 
rather than inhabited. It is not a true and legal possession. 
[Vattel, b. 1, § 81, p. 37, and ^ 209, b. 2, p. 96. Montes., b. 
18, ch. 12. Smith, Wealth of Nat., b. 5, ch. 1.] It is a right 
not to be transferred, but extinguished : regulated by treaties, 
not by deeds of conveyance. It depends upon the law of 
nations, not upon municipal right. [J. Q. Adams, Fletcher 
vs. Peck, Cranch, vol. 6, p. 121.] 

But beside that the Indians have no idea of individual 
property in the land, and pretend to no right but as a com- 
munity, and that founded on a residence or occupancy, that 
residence itself is not of a permanent nature. They occupy 
only till they find a more convenient spot, or till they are 
driven from the one which they select by some neighboring 
hostile tribe, and then seek another hunting-ground in the vast 
expanse of unoccupied country before them. In this way 
the Sauks have passed from the lower waters of the St. 
Lawrence to the Missisippi. Their last occupation of the 
mouth of Rock River and the western bank of the Missi- 
sippi, was made at the period nearly of the American Revo- 
lution, when they were driven south by the Chippewas. It 
is only about ten years ago, as stated by Nicollet, that the 
northern Chippewas drove the Sioux to the south of their 
old limits, and compelled them to pitch their tents some hun- 
dreds of miles farther, stretching to the west and south of 
the Missouri. 

If, however, it were otherwise, society could not allow that 
a small community of 5,000 or 6,000, if civilized men, 
claiming property in severalty, and by a permanent tenure, 



166 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

should occupy exclusively a territory sufficient to sustain ten 
millions of people. 

These lands are then in the state in which all lands are 
originally, and the title to them is to be acquired in the same 
way in which all titles are at first acquired, by occupancy ; 
which is as good as title by deed, and better, as an original is 
better than a derivative title, which all titles by deed are, and 
which must be resolved ultimately to an original title by oc- 
cupancy. The settler, then, has a good title to these lands, 
against all the world, but the government, absolute — and 
against the government upon the condition of paying the lien 
for expenses, which has been fixed at $1.25 per acre. The 
government neither has, nor can it acquire, by any principle 
known to the law, a fee simple in the lands. The only way 
in which it can be acquired is by the settler, by occupancy. 

Title by occupancy is not only a legal and valid title, but 
it is the only title by which lands are or can be originally 
held, except where the English doctrine holds, which gives 
them to the king. In this country they are held by the law 
of nature until relinquished by the bands of red men, who 
have resided on them, and then, not belonging to the govern- 
ment as by the English law they belong to the crown, are 
open to the first occupier 

Occupancy is the true ground and foundation of property, 
or of holding those things in severalty, which, hy the law of 
nature, unqualified hy that of society, were common to all 
mankind. — Black. Com., v. 2, p. 158 ; ih., p. 8. 

This is not depending on the authority of Blackstone 
alone, but it is also the doctrine of Grotius, Puffendorf, 
Locke, Rutherforth, Vattel, Montesquieu, Burlemaqui, 
Smith, and others, who have treated of natural and political 
laws. 

The writers upon natural law say that originally all things 



PUBLIC LANDS. 167 

were in common. That primarily and originally all the peo- 
ple who were upon the earth had an equal undivided right in 
the earth and the things that were upon it. Some of these 
things were by nature incapable of a property in them, that 
is, of a dominion and ownership by one man, to the exclu- 
sion of the rest ; — such as the ocean, the air, &c., these 
must remain in common. Other things are capable of ex- 
clusive property in an individual, as the earth. The original 
community of goods in these things that were capable of 
ownership would become, they say, inconvenient as mankind 
increased and society progressed. Under this condition of 
things, " the most effectual way," says Rutherford, "of secur- 
ing the peace of mankind is by introducing an exclusive pro- 
perty. * * * Tj^e common claim which all men origin- 
ally had to all things is taken away by the introduction of 
property as far as this exclusive right extends. * * * * 
When mankind were few in number, and lived together in 
the same place, they could easily meet to divide their com- 
mon stock, and to assign to each other his proper share by 
express consent, agreement, or compact. But after their 
numbers were increased, and they were settled in different 
parts of the world, very distant from one another, it became 
impossible for all of them to meet together. This method 
therefore of introducing property by express consent was 
rendered impracticable. Some consent, however, has been 
shown to be necessary to make the introduction of property 
consistent with justice ; and a tacit one would be sufficient 
for that purpose. Such a tacit consent is called occupancy. 
Indeed occupancy is but one part of the act." The other 
part of the act, as stated by Rutherford, is the consent of 
the rest of mankind, and this consent is presumed if they do 
not assert their common right and interfere with his occu- 
pancy. 



168 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

" Upon the whole then," says Rutherford, " property can- 
not be introduced consistently with justice, unless by the 
common consent of mankind. The consent which is neces- 
sary for this purpose might either be given expressly when 
all mankind could meet together, and such agreement is 
called division ; — or else it may be presumed, in consequence 
of the future proprietor having, without molestation, taken 
and kept possession of the thing which he intends to make 
his own, and such a tacit agreement is called occupancy." 

" But though either division or occupancy might give pro- 
perty in the first ages of the world, when all the joint com- 
moners could meet together, the way of introducing property 
by division is now at an end. The great numbers of man- 
kind, and their remoteness from one another, have rendered 
it impossible for them all to meet, and to divide the common 
stock of goods, or such parts of the common stock as have 
not yet been appropriated. There is therefore at present no 
other method left for heginning property hut occupancy only ; 
all things which were not appropriated formerly, must now 
he appropriated hy occupancy or not at alir — Ruth. Ins., 
V. 1, p. 42 to 50. 

Mr. Locke goes much farther. He does not consider any 
consent, express or tacit, as necessary on the part of the rest 
of mankind. But he places the right to property by occu- 
pancy, absolutely in the act of taking possession and improv- 
ing, on the ground that a man has a property in the labor of 
his hands ; and this labor being bestowed on an unappro- 
priated thing, makes it his own. 

The Indian lands in this country are in the condition as- 
serted by Rutherforth of all lands originally. They are 
held in common. The common claim is not taken away in 
them by the introduction of property. This stage of things 
has not yet arrived among the Indians. Under this condition 



PUBLIC LANDS. 169 

the lands are transferred to our government. Before their 
transfer, thousands of years before, the principle of occu- 
pancy as giving a title to such common unappropriated lands 
has been established as a fundamental principle in the 
original acquisition of property. These lands, therefore, are 
a subject for the application of the principle ; and they be- 
come the absolute property of the individual who occupies 
and improves them. 

Rutherforth says that before this right of property by oc- 
cupancy can attach, it is necessary the " thing seized upon 
should he certain and determinate.'''' In the case of the pub- 
lic lands, it is alw^ays understood to be a quarter section of 
the public survey. This renders it determinate. But I 
would add one other condition, and that is, that it is neces- 
sary also for the occupant to pay to government the expenses 
of the Indian treaty and the survey. These two conditions 
complied with, and I believe it impossible to establish any 
other principle known to the doctors upon natural or politic 
law, whereby a title to these lands can be acquired, and 
wholly impossible to show any fair and solid argument 
against the equity and legality of the title by occupancy, — 
or the propriety of its application to the lands in question. 

If Congress, unmindful of this law, and treating the pub- 
lic lands as if government had the fee in them, shall continue 
obstinately to persist in the illiberal policy which they have 
maintained, and which is founded no less upon ignorance of 
facts, than upon error in law, the time will come when the 
settlers will disregard the lien of government, and take pos- 
session of the lands without refunding the expenses of the 
treaties and surveys. 

A permanent pre-emption law was passed in September, 

1841, by which the occupants of the public lands are secured 

in their possessions — and every person being the head of a 

9 



170 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

family, widow, or single man, over the age of twenty-one 
years, a citizen of the United States, or who has filed a 
declaration under the naturalization laws, to become a citi- 
zen, who shall make a settlement on the public lands in per- 
son, and inhabit and improve the same and erect a dwelling- 
house thereon, shall be authorized to enter a quarter section 
of 160 acres, or a less legal subdivision, at the Land Ofiice 
of the District. 

The title by occupancy is thus limited by the enactment 
of the legislature, which defines the extent which the occu- 
pancy may cover ; — and, at the same time, to that extent, 
fortifies and confirms the title. 

The system of public surveys is a very complete admea- 
surement and marking of the whole body of public lands. 
As soon as the claim of the Indian occupants is extinguished, 
the land is fii'st run off and marked in township lines, which 
are divisions of six miles square. Afterward the township 
is divided into sections of one mile square, each section and 
quarter section being marked, by blazing a tree, as the tech- 
nical plu-ase is for marking it with an axe ; or, if the corner 
to be marked is in the prairie, by driving a stake and tlirow- 
ing up a sod, marking at the same time on the tree or the 
stake the number of the township and section. The town- 
ships are numbered from south to north on a base line, and 
the north and south ranges are numbered on both sides of an 
arbitrary meridian, east and west. The sections are num- 
bered, beginning at the northeast section of the township for 
number one, running west, and alternately east, terminating 
with number thirty-six in the southeast corner. Section 
numbered sixteen in each township is appropriated to schools, 
and transferred to the States for that purpose. 

Those lands not entered under the pre-emption law, are 
offered at public sale, previous to which no other person, not 



PUBLIC LANDS. 171 

having a pre-emptive right, can purchase. After they have 
been offered at pubUc sale, they are open to every purchaser 
at private sale. 

The price of all the lands is fixed at a uniform minimum 
of one dollar and a quarter per acre. A bill is now before 
Congress, providing for the graduation of the prices of those 
that have been a long time in the market. The graduation 
of the price of public lands, and a liberal permanent pre- 
emption law, are objects of the greatest importance to all the 
west. 

In the year ending December 1, 1844, 6,693,368 acres of 
new land were offered in the market, beside a great amount 
that was then on hand that had been previously offered : of 
this amount 1,747,158 acres were sold, mostly in small sub- 
divisions of 80 and 160 acres — an excess over both the 
precedmg years. In 1843, the number of acres sold was 
1,605,264. 

There has been a great misunderstanding on the part of 
the executive branch of the government, in relation to the 
value of the mineral lands. Mr. Spencer, when Secretary 
of War, in his annual report (1843 ?) stated the value of the 
mineral reservation in the lead district at $50 per acre ! ! ! 
and recommended their sale at an extravagant sum ($20) as 
the minimum. Now, the statement already made of the 
annual proceeds of these lands, shows them to be of no 
greater value than farming lands ; and if they were put up 
for sale to-day, at the minimum of $1,25 per acre, a great 
portion of them would remain unsold. A law has passed 
Congress at the present session to offer these lands for sale 
at a minimum of $2,50 per acre. Under this law but a 
small portion of the mineral reserve will be sold to actual 
miners, who know its value, though perhaps a good deal may 
be disposed of to unwise speculators. 



1T2 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

The proposition has sometimes been suggested of ceding 
the pubhc domain to the States respectively, in which it is 
included, at a certain price per acre (say 50 cents, or what- 
ever the net proceeds may be under the control of the United 
States government), to be paid on the receipt of the proceeds 
of sale. The advantages of this plan would be, reducing 
the patronage of the national executive very considerably ; 
and giving to the State governments in some degree the con- 
trol of the lands ; who would have power to modify the 
policy of the land system so as to favor or retard the settle- 
ment of their own State. The objections to it, among others, 
would be that it might lead to collisions between the State 
and National governments, and that the stipulated price (of 
50 cents per acre) would never be paid to the United States. 
This last objection could be obviated by making the land 
officers bound to the United States, as well as to the State, 
and requiring them to pay its portion immediately to the 
United States, without first going into the State Treasury, 
and giving an action against them to the United States for its 
recovery. Perhaps such provisions would exclude also the 
danger of collision between the general and the local govern- 
ments. One other benefit would arise from it. It might be 
managed with better understanding, and more economy, by 
the State governments, and some revenue saved by them for 
improvements. 

Under such a plan, moreover, the difficulties attending the 
settlement of conflicting or doubtful claims, would easily be 
overcome. There are now between one and two thousand 
cases of suspended patents, or undecided claims, in the land 
office, many of which have remained so for years, and which 
never can be settled without additional legislation of Con- 
gress. The number of land officers in the United States is 
134, subject to reappointment every four years, in the eight 



PUBLIC LANDS. 173 

surveying districts, and sixty-three land offices ; beside sixty 
or seventy officers and clerks in the City of Washington. 
All this executive patronage may be dispensed with by the 
proposed system, except about a corporal's guard at Wash- 
ington. The knowledge that would be brought into the 
administration of the land laws by the change, would be a 
great consideration. By the intimate knowledge which the 
State Governments have of this interest, a standard for the 
graduation of prices might be attained, much more accurate 
than that of mere time. If the surveys were made under 
the authority of the States, a farther economy may be made 
in that part of the business, probably. But if the surveys 
should be made by the United States, the eight Surveyors 
General, and a large number of officers at Washington, could 
not be dispensed with. 



PART V. 



INDIANS.— MONUMENTS. 

The Indian tribes now inhabiting the country under our con- 
sideration are the 

Chippewas, inhabiting the country toward the sources of 
the Missisippi, above St. Peter's, and toward Lake Supe- 
rior. With a small band of less than 200 inhabiting about 

Black River, they amount to - 7,780 

The Menominies in Wisconsin, - - - - 2,508 
The New York Indians, " .... 3,293 

Oneidas of Green Bay, ..---. 720 
Potawatamies of Huron, --.--. 100 
Stockbridge of Green Bay, .... - 207 

Stockbridge and Munsee, 388 

Dahcotahs (Sioux), ....... 25,000 

Winnebagoes, ---------2,183 

Potawatamies, - 2,200 

44,379 

Perhaps the Oneidas, Stockbridge, and 
Stockbridge and Munsee are included in the 
New York, and if so, they are repeated, and 
there should be deducted from the above - - 1,315 

43,064 

The whole number is therefore, in that case, about 43,000. 
Of these the greater part, the Sioux, Potawatamies, and the 



176 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Chippewas of the Missisippi, amounting to about 35,000, are 
at a distance from the white settlements, and have but little 
intercourse with them ; and about 8,000 or 9,000 are near 
the whites, and either reside among them or frequently visit 
them. The Sauks and Foxes, about 2,000, left this district 
last fall, for the land allotted them by the government south- 
west of the Missouri. There are several small tribes on the 
west bank of the Missouri ; and high up that stream the 
Mandans, Arikarees, and Blackfeet, occasionally pass east of 
the river, and roam over parts of the district comprehended 
within our pages. The Blackfeet reside partly within it. 

The early French travellers to this region mention many 
tribes who have now disappeared ; some of whom have been 
known in later times, and others who perhaps have not been 
heard of except through them. — Charlevoix names the Octo- 
tatas,* otherwise called Mactotatas, near the mouth of the 
Missouri, and the Moingonas, on the river of that name ; also, 
the Feorias, Tamaroas, Caokias, Kaskaskias, and Mitchiga- 
meas, who were tribes of the Illinois ; Mascotins and the 
Saulteurs of St. Marie, whose name he gives in their own 
language as Pauoirig\viwhac, the Nokets on Green Bay, the 
Ochagras, and the Kickapoos, are frequently named, and the 
Outagamis, who are the Foxes, and are now called by them- 
selves Muskwakas. The Isati were mentioned as inhabiting 
about the Falls of St. Anthony, and perhaps have that name 
by corruption from Saulteurs, which seems also to have been 
applied to them. They are probably the Chippeway. It is 
said by some that the name of the river Theakike was taken 
from a tribe of that name. All the travellers have spoken of 
the Naudoessies, so they spell it, who seem to have been the 
Dacotas, the name applied to them being no other than their 

* They are called by others Ottoetatas, and may be the people now called 
Ottoes. 



INDIANS. 177 

own way of speaking Nord-ouest, the name of description 
used by the French, though singularly enough, they did not 
recognize it in the Indian change, but received it as an ori- 
ginal Indian name. It may easily be conceived how the 
name became fixed on them. When they visited the French 
settlements, as all the tribes in this quarter did, and described 
the place of their residence, the French themselves applied 
the word Nord-ouest, in reference to the situation of their 
country. In their subsequent visits, to make themselves 
known from the other numerous tribes who visited them, they 
used the word which the French had applied to them, as a 
much more intelligible description to them than their proper 
name ; and their pronunciation of it was Nordouessy. The 
term thus became an appellative, which the French mistook 
for an original name. 

There was a tribe also called Massisagua, or Massisakwa 
(for it is not easy to distinguish accurately the Indian sounds), 
which is the name by which they call the prairie-rattlesnake. 
The first half of the word is the same as the name of the 
river, and means, great. The whole word may, therefore, 
mean, great adder. The last portion of it is, perhaps, the true 
name of the tribe which we now call Sak, and Saki.* 

The French make strange work in writing an Indian 
name. Ottawas, they make Ouctawaks ; Wabash, Ouabache 
and Ouabaskigou. 

Hennepin puts down the Tintonhas on the St. Peter's, and 
Hancton (Yanckton) further north on the Missisippi. 

Lahontan enumerates, on Lake Huron, the Hurons, 
Outawas, Nockes, Missisaugues, Attikamek, Outchipoues 
(Chippewas), or Sauteurs (of St. Anthony). On Illinois 
Lake (Lake Michigan), Illinois, Oumamis, Maskoutins, 



* See Note on p. 1 18. 
9* 



178 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

Kickapous, Outagamis, Malominis (Menominis), Pouteouta- 
mis, Ojatinons,* Sakis ; and, north of Missisippi, Naudoessis, 
Assimpouls (Assiniboins), Sonkaskitons, Atintons, Clistinos, 
Eskimos. To the west, on the river called Long River, 
which is St. Peter's valley, he mentions the Panimoha (Paw- 
nee Maha), now on the Missouri ; Okoros, or Eokoros, near 
the mouth of Long River ; Essanapes, sixty leagues further 
up the river ; and the Gnacsitares, still further up. He says : 
the Eokoros had twelve villages and twenty thousand war- 
riors ; and that they were much greater before their recent 
wars. He describes the Mozemlek Indians to the west, on 
a river which, at one hundred and fifty leagues from his place 
on Long River, discharges itself into a great salt lake, three 
hundred leagues in circumference, having at its mouth six 
large walled towns, and many others around the lake. The 
people around this lake call themselves Tahuglauk. All 
this was reported to him by the Gnacsitares, and was, no 
doubt, not correctly understood. The River Chayen-oju 
comes from a salt water region, to the north, and empties into 
the Red River, The Mozemlek may have lived on that, or 
on the Red River, which discharges itself into Hudson's 
Bay. The final syllable of their name may have been 
mistaken for lac, the whole name being derived from some 
lake in that vicinity. There is a band called Esconabe, to 
the north and east, in Canada, who may be the same as the 
Essanape. Both the Mozemlek and Tahuglauk are described 
as wearing beards and clothing. Charlevoix also relates that 
he received information of some Indians inhabiting about the 
Great Lake in the Northwest, which has been before men- 
tioned, who wore buttons on their clothes, and looked like 
Frenchmen. I must repeat my belief in the probable occur- 

* This is spelt, by Charlevoix, I think, Ouiatinons (Weatinons), and may 
be the tribe of the Miamis now called Weas. 



INDIANS. 179 

rence of some great convulsion of nature, which has 
destroyed both lakes and men, since that country was first 
seen by the whites. 

The Wahpacootas, a band of the Sioux, or Dacotas, now 
dwell where Lahontan found the Eokoros ; and, higher up, 
where he found the Essanape and Gnacsitares, are the Wa- 
petons, another band of the same nation. Farther west are 
the Yanctons, and beyond, the Teton, or Titonwan, and 
Yanctoni, all bands of the Sioux. Farther in the north and 
west are the Chippewas, Assiniboins, Blackfeet, Mandans, 
Arrikarees, Gros Ventres, and Arripahas. 

There are eleven bands of the Dacotas. Five of them are 
named in the last preceding paragraph. The others are the 
Medawekantons, Sisseton, Santis, Sioune, Ogallala, and 
Hunkpapa. From the name of one of these bands, probably 
Sioune, the French called the whole Dacota nation Sioux. 
Formerly, the Assiniboins were a tribe of the same nation, 
from whom they separated. 

A tribe was mentioned, by all the travellers, under the 
various names of Klistinos, Knistinos, and Kristinos. 

The Illinois, a powerful nation, occupied the northeastern 
portion of the tract comprised within our limits, residing on 
both sides of the Illinois River for nearly the whole extent 
of the State, north and south, and from the Lake to beyond 
the Missisippi. They were divided into several bands, under 
the names of Tamaroas, Michigamis, Kaskaskias, Kahokias, 
Peorias, and Moingonas. Of this numerous and powerful 
nation, the only remnant is a band of Kaskaskias and Peorias, 
numbering about one hundred and fifty. By long and bloody 
wars with the Iroquois, before they were known to the whites, 
the Illinois nation had become much reduced and enfeebled. 
The cession of Louisiana by France to Spain and England, 
by partition, in 1763, caused much dissatisfaction among the 



180 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

numerous Indian tribes, and eventually led to wars among 
themselves, which resulted, mediately, in the almost total 
extinction of the Illinois. Pontiac, a celebrated chief of some 
of the lake tribes, perhaps Huron, had endeavored to stir up 
all the nations of Northern Louisiana and the lakes to resist 
the transfer of dominion. He was afterward murdered by a 
Kaskaskia ; and, in revenge of his death, his friends made 
war upon the Illinois, which nearly destroyed the latter 
nation. Of the small remnant, a part were cut off by the 
Sauks, in the begimiing of this century. To the north of the 
Illinois were the Saukis, on the Wisconsin River ; the Pota- 
watamis, at Green Bay, together with the small band of 
Nokes ; and, further up the Fox River, the Musquakis, 
called, by the Chippewas, Outagamis, now the Foxes ; and, 
to the north of that river, the Menominis, who remain there 
to this day ; and, between there and Lake Superior, some of 
the Chippewa bands, i The Winnebagos are not mentioned 
by that name. Nor do we hear of the Dacotas, or of any of 
that nation, by the names they now bear ; but, from the place 
of residence, it is probable that those visited by Lahontan 
were different bands of this nation. 

The Menomini country, at present possessed by them, is 
bounded by the Wisconsin River to the west, the Fox River 
south, the Wolf River to the east, and on the north by lands 
lately ceded by the Chippewas to the United States, by treaty 
of 1842. The Nokes, at the earliest mention we have of 
them, consisted only of a few families, scattered here and 
there, but mostly frequenting the bay of that name in the 
northwest part of Green Bay. The Malominis, says Charle- 
voix, have a single village only, on the river of that name. 
They are a very handsome race, and the best-made of all the 
nations inhabiting Canada. They are larger than the Pota- 
watamis. I am assured that they have a common origm with 



INDIANS. 181 

the Noquets and Saulters, and also a language similar to 
theirs. But they say that they have also a peculiar language 
of their own, which they keep to themselves. [Char., vol. 5, 
p. 430.] Long says they are of a very light color, and that 
even before their admixture with the French, they were 
lighter than their neighbors, — and they are often called the 
White Indians. 

The Saukies, though small in number, are divided into two 
factions, of which one is attached to the Outagamis, the other 
to the Potawatamis. [Char., vol. 5, p. 432.] When the 
whites first came to the St. Lawrence, the Saukis were living 
in the country about its mouth. They afterward migrated to 
the west, and were found by Hennepin about the bend of the 
Wisconsin River. They probably extended northward to the 
Chippeway grounds : as they subsequently had a difficulty 
with that nation, which resulted in the removal of the Sauks 
to the south, and their establishment on Rock River. It 
appears, however, that in retiring south they did not yield 
their possessions on the Wisconsin, which they subsequently 
sold to the United States. The contest by which they were 
driven from the Wisconsin to the Rock River may have been 
about the time of our revolution, as Long and Maj. Marston 
agree that they came to the latter place at about that period. 
Here a portion of them resided at the breaking out of the 
war of 1812, and still remained till the Black Hawk war in 
1832. A part of the tribe left the Rock River settlement 
about the beginning of the present century, and took up their 
residence on the Missouri, where they have since remained. 
Some of them have been mixed with the Potawatamis. And 
the Shawnees are descendants of a seceding band of Sacs. 
The main body, formerly numbering about five or six thou- 
sand, gave up their Rock River lands to the whites, and 
removed west of the Missisippi, which cession was the cause 



182 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

of the Black Hawk war. They resided between the two 
rivers till the last fall (1845), when, according to their treaty 
of 1842, they removed west of the Missouri. 

Mr. Schoolcraft gives the following sketch of the contest 
with the Chippewas, by which they were compelled to retire 
south : 

" The St. Croix River, at the falls (says Mr. Schoolcraft), 
is the battle-ground of Wahbojeeg, a celebrated Chippeway 
war chief of the last century, and testifies to an event in In- 
dian tradition. Like most of the incidents in Indian warfare 
in this region, it is connected with the restless spirit, erratic 
adventure and ambitious daring of the tribes who are this 
season (1832) arrayed in hostility to the settlements on the 
Wisconsin. It is one of the links of the curious train of 
history of the Sauk and Fox tribes who have fought their 
way from the St. Lawrence thus far across the continent, 
and been successively embroiled with each of the white 
powers^ and perhaps with some exceptions with each of the 
Indian tribes of the north. They appear by their language 
and traditions to be Algonquins, and may be traced, as a 
starting point, to the north shores of Lake Ontario. They 
appear to have been driven thence for perfidy. They lived 
long at, and gave the name to Saganaw. They went to the 
Fox River of Green Bay, which is named after them, and 
here embroiled themselves with the Menomones, the Chippe- 
was and the French.* They were finally driven thence by 
force of arms. They fled to the Wisconsin, where Carver 

* It does not appear on what authority Mr. Schoolcraft gives the above 
relation. The character of the Sauks or Musquakas is not perfidious. It 
is true that the Sauks, if not the Foxes, came from the lower St. Law 
rence, below the lake But when the first French visited Green Bay, 
prior to 1700, they found there the Outagamis or Foxes, and at the portage 
the Sauks. The union of the two bands more probably occurred there, 
after a contest between them for possession of the country. 



INDIANS. 183 

speaks of their villages in 1766 ; thence to their recent resi- 
dence on Rock River, and by the last tragic act in their his- 
tory, are confined to a limit commencing west of the Missi- 
sippi. We speak of the Sauks and Foxes as connected in 
the gauntlet-like warfare they have maintained ; for they 
appear to have been intimate allies from the earliest times. 
The Indian name of the one tribe signifies those who went 
out of the land* (osaukee), and the other Redearths (Mus- 
kwakee), known by the nom de guerre of Foxes. 

*' While resident at Green Bay they occupied also Lac du 
Flambeau, and extended themselves to Lake Superior, and 
southwest of its shores, to the Sauk and Little Sauk Rivers 
above the Falls of St. Anthony. While thus located they 
seem to have fallen out with the Chippewas, and leagued 
with the Sioux, whom they have of late so strenuously 
fought. With the aid of the latter, at first covertly given, 
they maintained the possession of the rice lakes and mid- 
land hunting grounds. But they were finally overthrown in 
a general defeat at these falls by the combined Chippewa 
bands of Lake Superior. The latter came down the St. 
Croix by its Namakagon branch. They were led by Wah- 
bojeeg. Their spies reached the falls without having en- 
countered an enemy, but they unexpectedly found the Foxes 
(whom they called Ootaighamees), with their allies, encamped 

* Mr. Schoolcraft is probably nearly right in the etymology of the names 
Sauki and Musquakie. In a note to the relation furnished by Maj. Mars- 
ton, at the end of Dr. Morse's Report to the Secretary of War, it is said, 
that Saukie means red bank, and Musquakie yellow bank, — undoubtedly 
an error. Kebesaukie is the name for peninsula. The last half of the 
word therefore probably corresponds with the last half of peninsula, and 
means island, which is " out of the land" or a place in the water, given 
to them probably because of an insular residence at some time in their 
history. This was my own idea of the etymology of the name before I 
saw Mr. Schoolcraft's version. Mus mean red, — and he may be right in 
the derivation of Musquakie. 



184 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

at the other end of the portage. A partial action ensued. 
It was rendered general by the arrival of the whole Chip- 
pewa force. It was a fierce and bloody action. The Foxes 
made a resolute stand. But they were overpowered and 
fled ; and they have not since reappeared in that region. 
Among the slain several Sioux were found ; and this is said 
to be the first actual testimony of the Sioux being leagued 
with them in the war against the Chippewas. But this as- 
sertion is hardly reconcileable with the date of the war in 
other places. Wahbojeeg or the White Fisher, w^ho is 
noticed as the leader on this occasion, is said to have led out 
seven other expeditions against the Foxes and Sioux. He 
died at Chegoimegon, in Lake Superior, in 1793." 

The Sauks and Foxes took no part in the war of 1812. 
A body of them left their place on Rock River, and went to 
the Lake and offered their services to the British. But tak- 
ing disgust at the atrocities of some of the allies practised 
upon the Americans, they soon returned to their village, and 
remained inactive during the war. 

They are generally a tall, well-made people, with faces 
expressive of more intellect than would be found in an equal 
number of whites taken by chance, even w^ith the advan- 
tages which the latter possess in education. In character 
and manners they are very respectable and dignified. Brave, 
pacific, hospitable, honest and generous ; the condition of 
civilisation, the habit of industry and the discipline of educa- 
tion, would make them equal to the best men in any country. 
Their ideas of the social duties are very good ; and it is the 
custom for one of their principal men to go through the vil- 
lage daily, at sunrise, exhorting all to do good. Wennebea, 
who accompanied Maj. Long, was a Sauk of a reflecting and 
judicious mind, and of a moral disposition. 

Major Long says, with a view to ascertain what were 



INDIANS. 185 

their (the Sauk) ideas of moral excellence, we asked Wen- 
nebea what, in their opinion, constituted a good man. He 
immediately replied, that, '^ in order to be entitled to this 
appellation an Indian ought to be mild in his manners, affable 
to all, and particularly so to his squaw. His hospitality 
ought to be boundless. His cabin, as well as all that he can 
procure, should be at the disposal of any one who visits him. 
Should he receive presents, he ought to divide them among 
the young men of his tribe, reserving no share for himself. 
But what he chiefly considered as characteristic of a good 

man, was to be mild and not quarrelsome when intoxicated. 

***** 

" It is the duty of a good Indian to offer sacrifices to the 
Master of Life. The business of men consists in hunting, 
fighting, building their lodges, digging their canoes, taking 
care of their horses, making wooden spoons, &c. ; while it 
is the duty of the women to hew wood, to carry water, to 
plant and raise corn, to take care of their families, and, in the 
absence of the men, they must attend to their horses, build 
their lodges, &c. Man's chief and best occupation is hunt- 
ing. He will never fight unless aggrieved by his enemies, 
in which case it becomes his duty to resent the injury. A 
good hunter is held in high esteem, and will obtain as many 
wives as he chooses, because they know that he can support 
them, but the good warrior is esteemed the first man in the 
nation. 

" A woman, in order to deserve the appellation of good, 
ought to be endued with most of the qualities which consti- 
tute virtue among civilized females. To be obedient and 
affectionate to her husband is her first duty. Kind to all her 
children, partial to none : affable and courteous to all men, 
avoiding however the appearance of familiarity with any. 
Her chastity should be inviolate, even at the risk of death. 



186 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

She ought to be industrious, in order that her husband may 

be wealthy, and able to extend his hospitality widely. 

***** 

" Wennebea thought that when the Master of Life made the 
white man, he gave him the power to improve in knowledge 
and the arts : he taught him how to manufacture all the arti- 
cles that he wanted, such as cloth, guns, &c. To the red 
man he gave nothing but his bow and his dog, intending him 
therefore for no other occupation than that of hunting. 

" This appeared to be a favorite idea with Wennebea, and 
from it he drew the inference that the red man was predes- 
tined to remain stationary, and to live by hunting. 

" There is probably a similar system of ethics to that above 
explained by Wennebea, adopted by most of the red nations 
in the valley , though there is a diversity of national traits ; 
and the habits and conduct of all may not conform equally 
well with the standard fixed by their principles. There is 
also, of course, every shade of individual character, as among 
the whites. It is very common for white men who go among 
the Indians, or meet with them, to judge of the character of 
the tribe or nation from the character or act of an individual ; 
and the traveller who loses any of his chattels among a com- 
pany of red men, reports the nation to which they belong as 
a nation of thieves. That is as sensible and just as if a 
party of Indians on a visit to Washington, or New York, 
should be robbed of some article, and upon that circumstance 
should say that the Americans were a nation of thieves. 

" The red man has usually a great deal of sagacity, shrewd- 
ness, cunning, and practical wisdom, in part resulting from 
his want of education. The same thing is observable from 
the same cause in the white man. Those who study men 
instead of books, acquire a greater sagacity than those who 
read much, for the reason that they who devote their time to 



INDIANS. 187 

books, have the less for observation of men ; — and those w^ho 
meddle not with books, have no object upon which to direct 
their observation but men, apart from their attention to their 
particular art or pursuit. 

" Early in the 18th century a French trader, who went out 
to the country of the Missouris, made them acquainted with 
fire-arms, and sold them gunpowder and muskets. With 
these new weapons their success in hunting was greatly 
increased, and they obtained plenty of game and much fur. 
Another trader went to them afterward with gunpowder, but 
the Indians being supplied did not wish to purchase. The 
trader invented a plan to sell his stock to them. The Indians 
inquired how powder was made in France. He made them 
believe that it was sown in grounds similar to their prairies, 
and that they had crops of it, as of some grain which was 
known to the Indians. The Missouris were pleased with 
the discovery, and sowed their gunpowder, and were obliged 
to buy of the Frenchman all he had, to make up their supply 
for hunting. The trader did not remain till harvest : but the 
Indians soon found out the trick. Fearing to return himself, 
the Frenchman sent his partner out with goods to trade witli 
the same people, as the profits of this traffic were too great 
to be abandoned. The Indians found out that he was asso- 
ciated with the one who had duped them. They gave him 
the public hut in the middle of the village to deposit his 
goods in, and when they were all opened and unpacked the 
Missouris came, and those who had bought gunpowder of his 
partner took some of his goods ; and the Frenchman found 
himself soon relieved of his stock in trade, but without re- 
ceiving an equivalent. He complained to the chief, who told 
him with great gravity and dignity that he should have jus- 
tice done to him, but for that purpose he must wait for the 
gunpowder harvest ; that his subjects had no means at pre- 



188 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

sent of paying, but that after that harvest was over, he might 
rely upon the word of a chief, he would order a general hunt, 
and that the skins that should be taken, should be used to 
pay him for his goods, and for the important secret his part- 
ner had communicated to them." [Bossu, i., 146, et seq.] 

The Dahcotahs are the most numerous, powerful, and 
warlike people east of the mountains, within the limits of the 
United States, except a nation called Pagans, who exceed 
them in numbers, but do not equal them in spirit and military 
power. They seem to have been at all times ready to lend 
their arm and draw a bow for other tribes, not as Swiss, nor 
requiring aid in return, but from a love of war. We find 
them going in aid of the Foxes to the attack on the Missiga- 
mis, about 600 or 700 miles ; and again, a few years subse- 
quent, taking part with the Sakis in that war with the Chip- 
pewas, when Wahbojeeg compelled them to leave their 
residence on the Fox and fix their wekeab on Rock River. 
They are the dread of all their weaker neighbors. They 
have, at several times within a few years, been embroiled 
with the Chippewas, the Poles of the north, whose wont is 
to stand, without regard to odds, and to fall every man on his 
track, rather than to fly. Besides the Chippewas they have, 
within a few years, had a difficulty with the Saukies, and 
they are now in hostility with the Potawatamis, Ottoes, 
Omahas and Pawnees. 

The Chippewas, small in person, and of a quiet and meek 
aspect, have an indomitable spirit, and a prowess that shrinks 
from no encounter. They are greatly inferior in numbers to 
their neighbors, the Dahcotahs, and are moreover disunited 
and scattered, a part of them being joined to the Ottawas, 
and living east of Lake Michigan : that part within our 
limits being less than 8000. 

The Winnebagoes, called by themselves Oshungulas, ac- 



INDIANS. 189 

cording to Maj. Marston, are poor, indolent, and filthy in their 
persons. They have the hatred of their white neighbors, 
who suspect them of taking their hogs, and, whether with 
or without cause, have fixed upon them the imputation of 
pilfering. They are on very good terms with the Dahcotahs, 
and of course fear not to be drawn into a quarrel with any of 
their neighbors. 

The Potawatamis, though living at a distance from the 
whites, have less of the Indian characteristic than most of the 
other tribes. They are peaceably disposed, domestic in their 
habits, and some of them clothe themselves in the manner 
of the whites, especially the half-breeds. 

The lowas formerly inhabited a part of the country between 
the two rivers. They have now gone over the Missouri. 
They call themselves, as stated by Mr. Marston and others, 
I-ho-wa. They have a bad character. To questions put by 
Maj. Marston to the Sauks and Foxes, they answered that 
they were in alliance with the lowas ; stating, as a reason for 
it, that they were a bad people, and it was better to have their 
friendship than their enmity. The answer shows that the 
Sauks are, in their politics at least, very much like some 
other politicians that we know of. 

In the Indian character generally there is the like diversity 
as among the whites. There are, however, some traits that 
are prevalent not only in tribes and nations, but which appear 
to belong to the red man wherever he is found, from the 
mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Rocky Mountains, and from 
the Gulf to lat. 49°. I believe it is common to them all to 
make the performance of their promise depend upon con- 
venience and interest. This may be regarded as an Indian 
trait : though there are many of them who are faithful to their 
promises, under all circumstances, even to death. 

The stories of Winona and of Ampato Sapa show that the 



190 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

female is capable of the heroism of love, of constancy, to 
death, and of a nature sensitive in extreme. 

The history of former days, and occurrences of recent date, 
show that the warrior is possessed not only of animal courage, 
but of the truest heroism, and fortitude almost superhuman. 
The deeds that are related of Pontiac, the descent of the 
allied Sioux, Sakis, and others, upon the Illinois in 1752, and 
the contest of the Chippewas with the Saukis, and other 
events of past time in the Indian annals, show that they have 
not been surpassed in bravery by warriors of more enlighten- 
ed nations. And the instances of recent occurrence show 
that the spirit of former days still lives with them. 

Three years since a small party of sixteen Delawares and 
one Potawatami were hunting on the neutral ground between 
the Missisippi and Missouri. When they were about leaving 
their camp one morning, they were fired upon by a large party 
of Sioux, and some of their number wounded. They told the 
Potawatami to make his escape if he chose, but that they 
intended to fight by their wounded men, as long as one re- 
mained alive. They did so, and only the Potawatami es- 
caped to tell the story. 

More recently, a party of fifteen, of the same tribe, who 
were trapping otter on the head waters of the Kansas, were 
attacked by a large party of Sioux and Chiens. The Dela- 
wares stood their ground until the last man was killed. They 
are, says the Superintendent, the bravest of the brave. With 
this excess of courage, they are extremely forbearing, slow 
to resentment, and acting generally on the defensive. 

Mr. Schoolcraft, speaking of the Indians of Cass Lake, 
says the Indians approached in their canoes in a body, with 
a welcome, which could hardly have been more cordial had 
we been old friends. They represented their residence to be 
on a large island bearing southwest from the entrance (Col- 



INDIANS. 191 

caspi, or Grand Island). On approaching it a number of 
Indians were observed running across an elevation and point- 
ing to a bay beyond. It w^as the best place of landing. They 
were assiduous in directing the men to the spot. They 
ranged themselves along the shore, fired a salute, and then 
came eagerly to the water's edge, giving each one a hand as 
he alighted from the canoe. He who has formed his estimate 
of an Indian from the reading of books, in which he is de- 
picted as cruel and morose, without any insight into his 
social character, need only to be ushered into a scene like 
this to be convinced that he has contemplated an overshadow- 
ed picture. We found these Indians to be frank, cheerful, 
and confiding. 

The present condition of the Indians in this region is very 
favorable. They have generally lands of most exuberant 
fertility, have farmers and blacksmiths residing among them 
by appointment of government, receive large annuities of 
money and goods, and have schools and religious instruction 
also provided at the expense of the government. Some of 
them cultivate the land, and are beginning to evince a taste for 
the arts and condition of civilized life. The Stockbridges 
and Brothertowns, living near Lake Michigan, have been na- 
turalized, and become citizens of the United States. The 
Oneidas are improving their condition. Many of them are 
good farmers, and possess the comforts of civilized life. 
They attend church. The Chippeways, Dahcotahs, and 
Winnebagoes have schools. The Pottawatamies and Meno- 
minies are without any. The Sauks also had a provision for 
schools in their treaty of 1832. The government have also, 
in some of the treaties, stipulated for the establishment of 
mills, and these are maintained in some of the tribes, in ad- 
dition to the farms and blacksmiths. Annual reports are 
made to the government by the agents, of the numbers and 



192 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

condition of the Indians, accompanied by statements of the 
teachers, which show great numbers of the children are in 
attendance on school, and derive much advantage from it. 

The condition of the Indians would no doubt be much im- 
proved if the operation of the laws were well understood, and 
their influence upon the circumstances and upon the disposi- 
tion and character of the Indian were appreciated by those 
having the power to change them. But unfortunately, those 
who see them, if they are disinterested, are without the power 
to remedy them. If one not bearing official relations to the 
government or the Indians, should offer his counsel and com- 
municate his knowledge to the proper department, it would 
not be well received ; and even if the Superintendents sug- 
gest any change, the evils that are described are not perfectly 
understood by persons whose lives have been always passed 
at a distance. It is as difficult to make such comprehend the 
condition of matters among the Indians, as it is to make a 
foreigner fully understand in a few words the working of our 
political /system. A few men who understand them, it is 
true, do get into Congress, but all attempts to set matters 
right, if made, are overpowered by the great majority who do 
not understand them, and who cannot be made to understand 
them by the discussion had upon them on the floors of the 
capitol. The same difficulty is in the way of a proper dis- 
position of the public lands. A Secretary of War, some three 
or four years since, recommended that the mineral reserves 
should be sold *at a minimum of $20 per acre ; while 
those acquainted with them well knew that if offered at $1 .25, 
the great body of them would remain in the hands of the 
government. This defect of a practical knowledge in those 
who are called to shape the laws, has been the cause of a 
ten years' war in Congress, against a permanent pre-emp- 
tion system, and a graduation of prices. The discussion 



INDIANS. 193 

upon those matters alone has cost the people hundreds of 
thousands of dollars, beside a large probable loss of moneys 
that would haA'e been received into the treasury if they had 
been adopted ; and at the same time injustice and wrong has 
been suffered by the settler, and the business of the Land 
Office uselessly increased by the examination of conflicting 
claims. 

So long as a few traders control the intercourse and mono- 
polize the trade with the Indians, and the laws are shaped so 
as to favor their designs and interests, the red man must, of 
course, suffer wrong and injustice, in every shape which 
avarice can suggest, and cunning devise, for emiching the 
trader at the expense of his less adroit customer. 

We are not of those who clamor against our own govern- 
ment, and slander our own worthy fathers, for an imagined 
ill-treatment and oppression of the red man, which a morbid 
sensibility only, not a discerning judgment, may perceive. 
There is neither fraud nor oppression in purchasing the 
Indian lands for a full value and more than any neighboring 
tribe would give him. Neither is he injured by removing 
him from the society of the white man to those scenes that 
are congenial to his nature, and where he may freely enjoy 
those pursuits which he fondly imagines will make the hea- 
ven of th'i good Indian. But, under the laws regulating 
trade and intercourse with him, the red man suffers injury, 
not from the government, but from the traders. 

It is a matter of some importance, in a state of war 

between the United States and any foreign nation, 

that care should be taken to cultivate a good disposition 

among the Indians on our borders, that our relations with 

them should be pacific. To ensure this, two things are 

especially to be regarded, viz.: That our laws controlling our 

Indian relations be calculated to benefit and give satisfaction 
10 



194 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

to them ; and that the force of agents be increased. The laws 
at present existing, governing the trade with the Indians, are 
void of that wisdom and justice which is necessary to con- 
vince the Indian of the kind dispositions of our government. 
I will refer here to one prominent feature of them. It is that 
which destroys competition. Monopoly is always odious — 
odious to the buying class, because, destroying competition, 
it enables the seller to have his own price for his goods ; and 
odious and unjust to all other persons, because it violates that 
first principle in a free government, that the citizen is not to 
be restricted of his natural rights and liberties farther than is 
necessary for the good of the whole community. There is 
nothing in which the violation of this principle is more prac- 
tically oppressive than in the restraint of trade. Trade is a 
natural right, in which no man should be restricted but for a 
great and palpable public good. But in no other direction or 
department of trade is the principle so thoroughly odious, so 
oppressive, and so likely to lead to results burdensome to the 
government, and dangerous to the citizen, as in the Indian 
trade. The Indian shows not his inferiority to the white 
man so much in anything as in the arts of trade. Even 
under the circumstances most favorable to the Indian, he will 
be generally overreached by the white man. Monopoly 
places him completely in his power ; free and open competi- 
tion compels the trader to be more moderate in his exactions, 
and to relax somewhat of the horse-leech appetite which he 
is at Hberty to indulge when his avarice has full play, and 
which constantly grows with what it feeds on. There are 
two plans of obviating the ill effects of this system of mono- 
poly. The first has been suggested : a free and healthy 
competition. The other is, the establislmient of factories by 
government, and the sale of goods on government account, at 
regulated prices and moderate profits. This last mode, as a 



INDIANS. 195 

matter of revenue, is not to be overlooked ; as, v^rith the most 
moderate profits, it might be made to pay the expenses of our 
Indian agencies. The impositions of trade are, perhaps, the 
most felt of all the oppressions to which the Indian is sub- 
ject. It is one of which advantage can be taken both by the 
alien enemies of our government, and by citizens who feel 
aggrieved in being cut off from a lucrative pursuit to which 
they feel they have a right ; and by means of which the 
Indian may be stirred up to acts of hostility agains-t our people. 

Another evil of the present system is drunkenness. Mr. 
D. Jones, Indian Agent at Green Bay, says, in his last report 
to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs : — " I respectfully call 
your attention to a subject I submitted in my last annual 
report, and of which I still entertain a favorable opinion. I 
mean a system of suttling for the Indians similar to that of the 
army. If such a system were established, it would not only 
prevent, in a great measure, the introduction of whiskey 
among them, besides furnishing all their wants at reasonable 
prices, but would also do away with the annual collection of 
large sums of money, taken from the Indians at every pay- 
ment, by the traders for whiskey. I am satisfied that at 
least one quarter of the annuity paid to the Menominis is col- 
lected by traders, at the annuity payment, for whiskey." 

Governor Chambers, in his last report, says : — " I have 
heretofore taken the liberty, in my annual reports, to express 
the opinion that our system of trade and intercourse with the 
Indian tribes is, in this region of country, rapidly destroying 
them ; and I repeat that they are the victims of fraud and 
intemperance, superinduced by the large sums of money paid 
them annually by the government, without proper guards to 
protect against the superior cunning and avarice of unprinci- 
pled white men. The dictates of humanity, apart from con- 
siderations of sound policy, demand from the national legisla- 



196 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

ture an investigation of the abuses practised under the present 
system, and, as I beheve, a radical change of it." 

Pontiac has already been mentioned, and the part he took 
in opposition to the transfer of the dominion of the Illinois 
country from the French to the English. He was born about 
the begmning of the eighteenth century, and died a few years 
after that exchange of masters, about the year 1767, killed, 
it is said, by a blow from a Kaskaskia. He seems to have 
been possessed of a great degree of bravery and cruelty, if 
the deeds of his savage forces and allies were countenanced 
by him. He is said to have been an Ottawa, though this is 
not certain. By some he is called a Huron, others say 
a Sauk. He belonged to some of the tribes about Lake 
Michigan, but further I have not seen an authentic statement. 
He appears to have had great influence with all the tribes in 
the neighborhood of the Lake, Ottawa, Huron, Miami, and 
others, though his power failed to induce them to take up the 
tomahawk to resist the English domination. His hatred to 
the English seems to have been instinctive and invincible. 
His designs were great, and his energy and boldness sufficient 
for all occasions. He Avas not without that very frequent 
accompaniment of Lidian character, treachery. A hundred 
men possess the qualities, where one acquires the character, 
of a hero. It is necessary that accident and circumstance 
concur to bring the qualities to the observation of the world. 
Pontiac was favored in this respect. The nations of red 
men in that quarter had not lived in harmony tlie most per- 
fect. From the Dahcotahs on the west to the Iroquois, east, 
and from the Hurons on the Lake, to the Ohio, for a long 
course of years, bloody wars had carried almost extermina- 
tion to some tribes and nations. A single generation had 
witnessed the numerous and powerful Illinois nearly swept 
from the land. This was a school to make a warrior, and 



INDIANS. 197 

opportunity to bring out the hero. Besides the part they had 
in this savage warfare, they had joined the French in their 
successive wars of this period, and had seen the mihtary art 
in its scientific and formidable shapes, with the aid of tactics 
and strategy, and its attendants of cannon and all the weapons 
of civilized war. Pontiac was made of the metal to improve 
under this teaching, and he accordingly came out of it as good 
a specimen of the Indian hero, as any other, perhaps, of 
whom we have knowledge. 

Muckatah Mishakiahkiah (the Black Sparrow Hawk), the 
Sauk chief known in our day, usually called Black Hawk, 
was in person below the middle size, of that nervous tempe- 
rament which unites strength with activity, and crowns the 
union of these faculties with courage and a spirit that seems 
never exhausted, and cannot be subdued. At the age of fif- 
teen, on an occasion of some outrage committed upon a por- 
tion of the Sauks by some Indians of a neighboring tribe, he 
followed the band of avengers, who pursued and chastised 
the foe, and entitled himself to the rank of a brave. He was 
frequently engaged in hostile encounters, and had become the 
first warrior of the nation. Not liking the treaty of 1830, by 
which the chiefs of the Sauks had ceded their lands east of 
the Missisippi, and having other causes of irritation, as already 
mentioned, he commenced that system of hostility known as 
the Black Hawk War, the result of which is given in the 
historical part of this volume. He seems not to have been 
cruel or treacherous, but to have tempered his courage with 
generosity and humanity. He had less opportunity than Pon- 
tiac to display before the whites his heroism, as he had also 
not so great a school in which to learn the art of war. He 
was probably the more amiable man of the two. A strong 
attachment to their friends was common to both. A high 
order of intellect belongs to the Sauk tribe, and a man could 



198 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

not gain much distinction or influence among them without 
this quahty. These two warriors have obtained as much 
fame as any others whose deeds were done or Ufe passed 
within the Umits of these notes. 

I have mentioned the error of the laws regulating trade 
and intercourse with the Indians. There is a great and radi- 
cal error in the plan of civilisation. The attempt is made to 
reduce the roving and free spirit of the child of the forest at 
once to the drudgery of a systematic, continued industry, to 
the toil to which man is reconciled in the civilized condition 
only by his urgent wants, and his restless desires and ambi- 
tion. But the red man is without the incitements, he feels 
not the wants, and of course will not assume the burden and 
labor, of civilized life. Why should he change his w^iole 
habit and system of life, and giving up ease and liberty, take 
to himself toil and slavery ? His condition does not require 
it, and his nature, spirit and habits, all revolt at it. But at 
the same time that he is invited to this disagreeable change, 
he is impelled to an acquaintance with artificial wants, by 
sending clothing, comforts, luxuries and gewgaws to him ; 
and his ambition is raised by these displays, and cherished 
by reading. It is all precocious and impractical. It is 
like attempting to make a child walk erect at once, before it 
has made the primary locomotive process by crawling. 
Civilisation will not come per saltum. It is a creature that 
neither will fly nor leap. It is the creature of artificial wants 
and extra-natural appetites ; those again are the creatures of 
habit, and habit in its turn is generated by circumstances. 
Through all these conditions man must pass in his progress 
to civilisation. Instead, therefore, of attempting to bring 
the red man at once into the unnatural state of civilisation, it 
should be done by degrees. He should be placed in an 
intermediate state, where the wants are fewer and the labor 



MONUMENTS. 199 

less intense. He should be invited to a pastoral life, rather 
than to the more toilsome and more intricate and skilful 
labors of agriculture. Let government, instead of the farm- 
ing implements and the articles furnished through the traders ; 
and preceding the schools, give them sheep. It w^ill not be 
so opposite 10 their habits ; so above their skill ; or so revolt- 
ing to their spirit, to tend the flocks. The occupation will 
give them an article, v^^ool, w^hich w^ill suggest new wants, 
clothing, They will appropriate it to those wants. Those 
wants gratified, and a surplus of a valuable commodity left 
to them, they will create new wants, and will exchange that 
commodity for something to supply the new want, gratify the 
new desire. In this way by steps they will acquire both the 
wants, and the ways and means, of artificial society. But 
they will neither fall nor jump into them. Some of the tribes 
have indeed passed very rapidly from the wild state to civili- 
sation ; but a transition state is more natural, more whole- 
some, and will in the end produce greater results, both nume- 
rically and morally. 

There is a very singular monument, or collection of monu- 
ments, of an unknown race, an unrecorded time, and an 
unexpressed purpose, existing in this country. These are 
conical elevations of earthwork standing hi the prairies, or 
sometimes crowned with a grove, of very regular shape, 
from five to ten feet usually, in height, or sometimes more, 
and from thirty to fifty or more in diameter, having a circular 
base. They are usually found in groups or collective 
ranges, some half dozen or more being placed in line, in con- 
tact or close contiguity at the bases, extending usually from 
east to west. By what people constructed, at what time, or 
with what design, have been involved in doubt. It seems, 
however, that their design must have been for receptacles for 
the dead. These monuments are very frequent, and the 



200 NOTES ON THE NORTHWEST. 

writer has met with them in many places, in a small compass 
within forty or fifty miles of the Missisippi. Their perfect 
regularity of shape, size and direction, forbid the idea of a 
natural formation. It is said the present inhabitants know 
nothing of them, and have no traditions, and therefore the 
inference is drawn that they were the works of another race, 
who had become extinct before the tribes now there possessed 
the country. To my mind, however, the inference is not a 
legitimate one. The Indian traditions are of the creation, 
the deluge, the first appearance of man and w^oman upon the 
earth, great eras connected with the formation and peopling 
of the earth, and kindred to them. But of the extinction of 
tribes or nations by war and pestilence, and the inhumation 
of heaps slain by disease or battle, they pass down, I believe, 
no story. If these were constructed but a few centuries 
ago, the living descendants of the people who reared them 
might be now uninformed of their date or object. 

Mr. Locke has given an account of some very singular 
works of this kind in the likeness of quadrupeds, which has 
been printed in the Appendix to the Report on the geology 
of the mineral district, by David Dale Owen. Mr. Locke's 
account is subjoined, as a part of the Appendix to these notes. 



APPENDIX. 

(A.) 



GEOLOGY. 

The country under consideration is of the secondary forma- 
tion, consisting of the mountain Hmestone group, and princi- 
pally, in some parts almost exclusively, of the cliff limestone. 
It bears marks too distinct to be overlooked, of having been 
once submerged. The shape and peculiar smoothness of the 
surface at once gives this idea, which is confirmed on inspec- 
tion, by finding among the superior strata near the surface, 
stone composed wholly of fossil marine shells. The uniform 
slope of the land, also, is another evidence of the same fact. 
This feature has been mentioned in describing the physical 
geography. It is about as regular from the Gulf to St. Pe- 
ter's, as the bed of the sea upon one of our sand beaches, 
and in the whole distance of more than 1000 miles, does not 
much exceed a rise of 1000 feet, or one foot to a mile. At 
the sources of the Missisippi and St. Peter's, we reach the 
height of land between the Gulf and Hudson's Bay, the 
waters of Red River, which run into the last, starting almost 
in contact with the two others. Indeed the passage can be 
made in boats at seasons of high water, from St. Peter's to 

Red River. It may be therefore regarded as a certain fact, 
10* 



202 APPENDIX. 

that formerly the sea covered this whole valley, from the 
Gulf to Hudson's Bay, dividing North America into two con 
tinents, of one of which the Alleghany, of the other the 
Rocky mountain range formed the nuclei. This would seem 
to be at a very remote period, as there are indications that it 
has been inhabited at an antediluvian period. Pieces of 
pottery have been found in different places, more than fifty 
feet below the surface, in digging w^ells : and this position 
can hardly be accounted for, without supposing a great dis- 
turbance of the upper strata of the earth, and also a con- 
siderable lapse of time. There is a very abundant deposit 
of coal in several portions of the valley : beside the large 
Illinois coal field : generally regarded as evidence of an ante- 
diluvian vegetation. According to Mr. Guion, there are 
large beds of coal on the Des Moines. The erratic deposits 
are found upon the surface upon very distant points in this 
region. They are mentioned by Nicollet upon the Tchan- 
sansan and Tchankasndata, as well as high upon the St. 
Peter's , and the author has observed them upon the Wabe- 
sipinicon. Mr. Schoolcraft says the rock on the southern 
shore of Lake Superior consists of granite, slate, and sand- 
stone. 

The country bordering on the Missisippi, within the inha- 
bited portions of Iowa, and below, is chiefly a mountain 
limestone. In some localities, as already mentioned, are 
strata of fossil cretaceous formation, composed mostly or 
wholly of shell. At the top of the bluff at Burlington, at 
about 150 or 200 feet above the mark of high water at the 
usual stage of the river, covered only with a thin layer of 
chert and ves^etable mould of a few inches, is an encrinitic 
limestone which may, from appearance, be altogether of this 
shell. And, at Iowa City, the same shell composes a very 
soft, fine-grained marble of a dingy-white color, which re- 



GEOLOGY. 203 

ceives a fine polish, and is a highly ornamental and valuable 
stone. There is also a soft, black, variegated marble, like 
the Egyptian, and some other marbles in the southern por- 
tion of Iowa, between the Des Moines and Iowa. In some 
parts of this district bituminous coal has been found, and on 
the east side of the Missisippi is an extensive bed. Further 
north, about the Wabesipinicon, is a region of iron, then the 
great bed of galena or sulphate of lead, and in the farther 
north the copper district. This is probably the richest 
mineral region in the world ; and to the geologist and mine- 
ralogist, an extensive and profitable field of research. The 
banks of the Missisippi contain great quantities of the pre- 
cious stones, which are washed out by rains and carried 
down by the stream. In some places, within four or five 
years, the writer has found some very beautiful agates and 
cornelians in the streets of the towns ; and, in a stroll of an 
hour on the shore, has loaded his pockets with them. 

There are several very accurate and complete descriptions 
of the geology of this country. And, instead of attempting 
to give my own account of it, I shall embody in this part of 
my work the published account of Long, Owen, and Nicol- 
let, (fee, which, together, include the greater part of the 
country which is the subject of this volune. My own obser- 
vation of the country, geologically, being very cursory and 
partial, and the survey of these gentlemen, all scientific men, 
furnishing a very satisfactory description of the country in 
this respect : I transcribe their observations in extenso.. Mr. 
Nicollet's observations extended over a large portion of this 
region, and his remarks below give us the result in several 
difierent localities. He says : 

" The region comprised within my map is covered by a 
species of deposite of the kind for a long time known by the 
name of diluvium ; but, as this word implies a theoretic idea 



204 APPENDIX. 

as regards the accumulation of such deposits, the cause of 
which is still open to controversy, it is now very generally 
abandoned, and the designation of erratic deposits, among 
others, adopted in its stead. I have, therefore, used the 
latter expression, as comprehending a vast deposit of sand, 
gravel, pebbles, clay (arranged in zones, and occupying 
almost always the bottoms), and masses of rocks transported 
to a distance from their original position, usually called erra- 
tic blocks. This deposit always occurs between the vegeta- 
ble soil and the rocky strata of all ages that constitute the 
geological basis of each section of country. To the north 
and to the south of the western portion of Lake Superior, as 
far as the upper half of St. Peter's River, it overlies prima- 
ry rocks ; south of the St. Peter's, to the west and east of 
the Missisippi, it covers silurian rocks ; whilst, on the Upper 
Missouri, it rests upon a cretaceous formation, everywhere 
mixing itself with the detritus of the rocks in place. The 
thickness of this deposit is very variable ; sometimes only 
quite superficial, and, when of a more important character, 
from 150 to 160 feet in depth. It is met with, indiiferently, 
with its erratic fragments, on the summits of hills, on the 
upland plateaux, over the plains, and in the valleys. It has 
contributed towards levelling the original irregularities of the 
soil, by filling up hollows ; or varied them, by transporting 
over the country new materials ; whilst the subsequent action 
of water and weather has further brought about its charac- 
teristic features. 

" The en-atic blocks of this deposit are not generally 
rounded, but they are still boulders. Those which have the 
rounded appearance, most usual to boulders, among a great 
many that I had an opportunity of examining, owe it to their 
exposure to the atmospheric agents which have worn them 
down. This is made evident by examining those portions of 



GEOLOGY. 205 

tliem which are buried in the soil, and, in this way, protected ; 
their angles and corners show but little erosion. On the 
other hand, wherever there is a deposit of pebbles, its origin 
may be easily traced to local causes that have acted long 
after the arrival of the erratic deposit now under considera- 
tion. 

" It is difficult to determine the direction whence the ma- 
terials of the erratic deposit came. The presumption is, 
judging from the nature of the erratic blocks — the analogues 
of which are found in higher latitudes — that they were 
brought from the north to the south. 

" On the borders of the great lakes, on the flanks of valleys, 
and where traces of recent floods are apparent, the erratic 
blocks are in great abundance. Their size varies from a few 
inches to a few cubic feet ; yet this seems to bear no relation 
to the distance whence they are supposed to have come. On 
the contrary, it appears that the largest are often found in the 
highest spots, and at a greater distance from their origin. I 
did not find them more abundant on the northern slopes of 
hills than on the southern. Their oryctognostic distinctions 
are — granitic sienite, resembling the Egyptian red granite ; 
a true sienite, with white feldspar ; a granite, with a large 
proportion of feldspar ; gneiss, amphibolite, red jasper, quartz 
pebbles, and a great variety of agates and cornelians. These 
last are carried oif by the streams, and scattered in great 
numbers over the shores of the Missisippi and Missouri ; but 
they have no value, and are collected by travellers merely as 
reminiscences. The sand and gravel are composed of the 
small fragments of all these rocks ; the sand, though varying 
according to places, being principally siliceous. It is this 
sand which constitutes the predominant ingredient in the soils 
of the whole region embraced in the map, modified according 



206 APPENDIX. 

to localities by the presence of carbonate of lime, magnesia, 
oxide of iron, &c. 

*' The uplands that border on the rapids are based upon 
the mountain or carboniferous limestone, as the contained 
fossils indicate. The limestone, of a dirty color, and much 
broken up, is the matrix of numerous siliceous and calcareous 
geodes. These fine geodes, picked up by all travellers, are 
found on the banks of the rapids, having fallen from the 
adjoining bluffs. Within a few years, there has been a road 
opened leading to Warsaw, and, being cut off from the bluff, 
has exposed to view the stratum in which the geodes occur, 
and their position therein. They are observed to be slightly 
compressed, their greater axes being parallel to the stratifica- 
tion of the limestone, which is horizontal. As I have col- 
lected a number of them, I shall describe, mineralogically, a 
few of those that have appeared to me the most interesting in 
their mineral association, viz.: — 

1. Siliceous geodes, the cavity of which is filled with pris- 

matic crystals of limpid quartz (quarz hyalin). 

2. Siliceous geodes, filled with crystalline quarz, the pyra- 

midical terminations of which are of a red color. 

3. Siliceous geodes, filled with crystallized calcareous spar 

(variety, en tete de clou of Haiiy). 

4. Silico-calcareous geodes, with rhombic calcareous spar. 

5. Silico-calcareous geodes, with confusedly crystallized 

calcareous spar. 

6. Siliceous geodes, enclosing calcareous spar and crystalline 

sulphuret of zinc. 

7. Siliceous geodes, containing mamclonated chalcedony, of a 

red color. 
*' These geodes vary in size from four or five inches in 
diameter to twelve or fifteen. 

" The following section exhibits the several subdivi- 



25 feet. 


2 


(( 


10 




3 




2 




2 




3 




3 





GEOLOGY. 207 

sions according to mineralogical and oryctognostical distinc- 
tions of character at Burlington, and in the descending 
order : — 

1. Superficial soil _ - - 

2. Chert - 

3. Yellow limestone, with spatic encrinites and 

productae ._.--- 

4. Calcareous argillaceous marl, with few fossils 

5. Siliceous limestone - - _ - - 

6. Oolitic limestone, with productae - - - 

7. Bluish clay _-.-__ 

8. Yellow compact limestone . - - - 

9. Compact siliceous limestone, with veins of cal- 

careous spar - - - - - -8" 

10. Oolitic limestone - - - - - J" 

1 1 . Saccharoidal blue limestone, with veins of cal- 

careous spar, and impressions of small orthis 

and strophomena - - - - - 2 " 

" The valley of the ' Red Pipestone' extends from N.NW. 
to S.SE., in the form of an ellipsis ; being about three miles 
in length, with a breadth, at its smaller axis, of half a mile. 
It is cradle-shaped, and its slope to the east is a smooth 
sward, without trees and without rocks. Its slope to the 
west is rugged, presenting a surface of rocks throughout its 
whole length, that form a very picturesque appearance, and 
would deserve a special description if this were the place to 
do so. But I am now more particularly interested in defining 
its geological features. 

" The principal rock that strikes the attention of the 
observer in this remarkable inland bluff is an indurated 
[metamorphic) sand-rock, or quarzite, the red color of which 
diminishes in intensity from the base to the summit. It is 



208 APPENDIX. 

distinctly stratified ; the upper beds being very much wea- 
ther-worn and disintegrated into large and small cubic frag- 
ments. 

^' The whole thickness of this quarzite, which immediately 
overlies the bed of the red pipestone, is twenty-six and a half 
feet. Its strata appear to have a small dip to the NE, The 
floor of the valley, which is higher than the red pipestone, is 
formed by the inferior strata of the quarzite, and, in the 
spring of the year, is most generally under water ; the action 
of which upon the rock is apparent in the great quantity of 
fragments strewn over the valley, so as to render it uncom- 
fortable to walk over them. The creek, by which the valley 
is drained, feeds, in its course, three distinct small basins, at 
different elevations, that penetrate down as far as the red 
pipestone. 

" This red pipestone, not more interesting to the Indian 
than it is to the man of science, by its unique character, 
deserves a particular description. In the quarry of it which 
I had opened, the thickness of the bed is one foot and a half, 
the upper portion of which separates in thin slabs, whilst the 
lower ones are more compact. As a mineralogical species, 
it may be described as follows : compact ; structure, slaty ; 
receiving a dull polish ; having a red streak ; color, blood 
red, with dots of a fainter shade of the same color ; fracture, 
rough ; sectile . feel somewhat greasy ; hardness not yield- 
ing to the nail ; not scratched by selenitc, but easily by cal- 
careous spar ; specific gravity, 2.90. The acids have no 
action upon it ; before the blow-pipe it is infusible per se, 
but, with borax, gives a green glass. 

'' According to Professor Jackson, of Boston, who has 
analysed it, and applied to it the name of catlinite, after Mr. 
Catlin, it is composed of 



GEOLOGY. 








*' Water 


_ 


- 


- 8.4 


Silica - - - _ 


- 


- 


- 48.2 


Alumina - - - - 


- 


- 


- 28.2 


Magnesia _ - . 


- 


- 


- 6.0 


Peroxide of iron 


- 


- 


- 5.0 


Oxide of manganese 


- 


- 


- 0.6 


Carbonate of lime 


- 


- 


- 2.6 


Loss (probably magnesia) - 


- 


- 


- 1.0 



209 



100 

'•' But Professor Jackson assimilates it to the agalmatolite, 
from which it differs, however, very materially by its general 
aspect, its conduct before the blow-pipe, and its total insolu- 
bility in sulphuric acid. 

" Another feature of the Red Pipestone Valley, is the oc- 
currence of granitic boulders of larger size than any I had 
previously met. One of them measured about 60 feet in 
circumference, and was from 10 to 12 feet thick. They are 
strewed over the valley, in which it is remarkable that there 
are no pebbles. 

" On the left bank of the Mankato, six miles from its 
mouth, in a rocky bluif composed of sandstone and lime- 
stone, are found cavities in which the famed blue or green 
earth, used by the Sioux as their principal pigment, is 
obtained. 

"As I did in the case of the red pipestone described 
above, I will state the mineralogical characters of the Indian 
blue earth, or clay. It is massive, somewhat plastic, emits 
an argillaceous odor when breathed upon ; — color, bluish 
green; easily scratched with the nail when formed into 
hardened balls. The acids have no action upon it ; it is 
infusible before the blow-pipe, but loses its color and becomes 
brown. This color is due to the peroxide of iron, which it 



210 APPENDIX. 

contains in the proportion of ten per cent, at least. It con- 
tains no potash, and but a small proportion of lime. It is a 
very different mineral from that described by Dr. Thompson, 
under the name of pipe-clay. 

" The predominant rock in this region of country to which 
I am now referring — namely, from the Platte River to Coun- 
cil Bluffs — is the carboniferous or mountain limestone, well 
characterized by the fossils, consisting principally of the pro- 
ducta lobata, producta punctata, orthis, delthyris, turbinolia 
fungites, crinoidal remains, &c. ; most of these genera afford- 
ing several new species as yet undescribed. 

" This formation is a continuation of that which underlies 
so vast an extent of the Missisippi Valley ; but having a 
much larger development over the States that are to the east 
of this river, and extending even to the Alleghanies. It is 
the support of important coal-basins, and rests upon a group 
of Silurian rocks, beginning at the Falls of St. Anthony, 
extending itself from north to south, constituting the mine- 
ral regions of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri, and losing 
itself somewhere in the State of Arkansas. This last-men- 
tioned group is bounded at the north by amphibolic rocks, 
steaschists, and clay slates, that extend to beyond 47° of N. 
latitude ; and at the south also by steaschists and clay slates, 
that compose the principal rocks at Little Rock in the State 
of Arkansas, and also those of the Washita mountains. 
These rocks are referrible to certain members of the group 
to which Mr. D'Homaluis d'Halloy has given the name of 
terrain ardoisier, and have their equivalent in the series of the 
grauwacke of German geologists. Thus, by this distribu- 
tion of the geological formations, it would seem that, more 
particularly to the west of the Missisippi, the silurian group 
is imbedded within the ' terrain ardoisier,' or grauwacke, 



GEOLOGY. 211 

just as the carboniferous series, with its coal measures, over- 
lies the sihirian. 

" From what I have so far said of the geology of the West, 
it will be perceived that I have adopted the classification of 
the older fossiliferous rocks, as laid down by its illustrious 
author, Mr. Murchison. But I must confess that I hesitated 
about it a long time ; notwithstanding the opinions of my 
friends MM. Vanuxem and Conrad, both distinguished geolo- 
gists and conchologists, who had recognized among my fossils 
irrecusable evidences of the occurrence of a silurian group 
in the West. Having attached too much importance to the 
term ' old red sandstone ;' seeking, in vain, over the country 
that I was exploring, an equivalent for it, either mineralogical 
or palaiontological, which would enable me to separate the 
carboniferous from the silurian system, unless I chose to find 
it in the sandstone on the St. Louis of Lake Superior, or 
that of the environs of Little Rock, in the Arkansas ; and 
not feeling authorized to do so, from the absence of fossils — 
fearing, moreover, that these rocks were actually beyond the 
limits of the system under consideration, as I said before, I 
could not but hesitate. However, having recently become 
acquainted with the learned papers read in 1840 before the 
Geological Society of France, by MM. Murchison and De 
Verneuil — one ' on the Devonian rocks of the Boulonnais ;' 
the other ' on the importance of determining the limits be- 
tween the mountain limestone and the inferior formations' — 
a new light was afforded me ; all my doubts were dissipated ; 
and I then saw the necessity, in identifying the relative ages 
of rocks, and especially those separated from each other by 
long intervals of country, to attend exclusively to their fossil 
contents. 

" Starting, then, from this principle, I think I can confi- 



212 APPENDIX. 

dently offer indubitable proofs of the occurrence of the Devo- 
nian rocks on the Missouri River. 

" In latitude 40° 50", and longitude 95° 42' from Green- 
wich, eighteen miles below Platte River, there is a locality 
known by the name of ' Five Barrels Island.' Opposite to 
that group, and on the right side of the river, a bluff, at the 
termination of a series of rocky banks, is separated by a 
small creek from another series called Cdtes de la Platte. 
At the base of the bluff there is — 

" 1st. A compact argillaceous limestone of a bluish color, 
from one to two feet thick ; soft under water, but hardening 
when exposed to the air ; it weathers into thin plates, pre- 
senting an uneven surface ; on which there are impressions 
of euomphali, but too indistinct to be specified. 

" 2d. A compact argillaceous limestone of a yellowish- 
gi*ey color, from six to seven feet thick, containing an abun- 
dance of crinoidal remains, associated with beautiful and large 
specimens of the cyathophyllum vermiculare of Gold. This 
limestone also contains a producta and an unknown bivalve, 
together with crystallized bi-sulphuret of iron agglomerated 
into bullets. 

" The uppermost portion of the bluffs, attaining a height of 
180 feet above the river, I remarked to be shadowed by trees 
over a beautiful green sward ; but I had no opportunity of 
examining it particularly. 

" It may be well to state here, that all such rocky banks 
as the one just alluded to, noticed by Lewis and Clark, and 
subsequently by Major Long, are constantly wearing away ; 
so that they offer landmarks to the traveller only for a limited 
period of time. But we are not to judge of their orycto- 
gnostical character from the detritus found below them ; be- 
cause this is composed not only of the materials derived 
from the bluffs, but of others carried down the Missouri 



GEOLOGY. 213 

during its season of high waters. Among these materials is 
the oft-mentioned pumice stone, which is brought down from 
the upper parts of the river. I have ascertained, by a more 
careful examniation than had probably been given to it pre- 
viously, that it is not a true pumice, but a semivitreous sub- 
stance, produced by pseudo-volcanoes, that I shall hereafter 
describe ; the region of which is laid down upon my map. 

" On the elevated prairies above the bluffs, the ' erratic 
deposite ' again appears ; amongst which I found, for the 
first time, fragments of quartzite in every respect similar to 
that of the Red Pipestone Quarry. 

" Mr. Murchison, in his lately published Memoir, refers to 
a paper by Mr. Lonsdale on the Devonian system, in which 
that celebrated paloeontologist indicates the principal fossils 
belonging to it ; referrmg, also, to the species found in Bel- 
gium and in France, as well as in Devonshire. In this list 
of six species enumerated as belonging characteristically to 
the Devonian system, I find stromboles vermicularis, or 
cyathophyllum vermiculare ; and euomphalus radiatus (Gold). 
The cyathophyllum vermiculare, it appears, is the only 
species that is found both in the Devonshire rocks and those 
of the Boulonnais. Well, now, if we take into account the 
enormous distance that separates the small group that I have 
just described, with its equivalent in France and in England, 
will it be thought hazarding too much to detach it from the 
place I had first assigned to it in the lower mountain lime- 
stone, and bring it down to the Devonian system ? 

" The group to which I am now referring, and which is at 
the base of the rocky banks previously described, is very 
fossiliferous, and has a great extent ; though I had no occa- 
sion to give it but a rapid examination. I may be permitted 
to hope that naturalists more fortunately circumstanced will 
discover among it other characteristics by which to complete 



214 APPENDIX. 

an identification with its European equivalents ; thereby 
stamping upon the new classification of the older fossiliferous 
rocks an additional proof of contemporaneity as regards the 
' Far West' of America, which will most probably be veri- 
fied in time over our whole globe. 

'' This series of rocks, then (which I feel necessitated to 
refer to the Devonian system, for reasons stated above), 
underlying those of the carboniferous system, have, conse- 
quently, their appropriate place above the silurian rocks, 
members of which are found beyond Wolf river, and, again, 
now and then, in proceeding from bluff to bluff along the 
Missouri. 

" The carboniferous rocks, which form a large and im- 
portant feature in the geology of this region, are full of 
fossils, and may be said to offer a new field of exploration to 
the fossil conchologist in the great number of new species 
belonging to the genera producta — delthyris, orthis, stropho- 
mena, atrypa, favorites, &c. To indicate the numerous 
localities where these fossils are variously associated with 
each other, would only be multiplying a list of them — which 
I cannot afford to do in a report, the scale of which hardly 
leaves room to lay down the greatest geological divisions of 
the country. I would only add, that the producta lobata, and 
producta punctata, and the turbinolia fungites of Philhps, 
appear to me to be the characteristic fossils of the carboni- 
ferous rocks in this region. They occur at localities very 
distant from each other — between Five Barrels Island and 
Council Bluffs ; on the Des Moines ; from Racoon Fork to 
the lower rapids of the Missisippi ; in the vicinity of St. 
Louis, St. Genevieve, &c., &:c. At the last-mentioned 
locality, on the limestone over which the creek called Ga- 
bouri flows, the turbinolia fungites and a new species of 
producta are found associated with the bellerophon hiulcus, 



GEOLOGY. 215 

as well as other species ; and they are all mineralized into 
red chalcedony. 

" The upper strata of this Gabouri limestone present a 
beautiful rock with an oolitic structure, which is now quarried 
for architectural purposes. It is doubtless an equivalent of 
that which occurs in the Burlington group, Iowa. It extends 
itself to the right and to the left of the Missisippi, to near the 
Ohio river, and even through Kentucky and Tennessee. The 
fossils contained in the oolitic limestone of the Gabouri are 
obscure and undeterminable ; but, in other localities, this 
rock has yielded pentremites pyriformis, pentremites globo- 
sus, pentremites florealis, that have been described by Say, 
and a fourth species, which is new. 

" I have deemed the foregoing digression necessary in 
order to connect the geology of the country just described, 
with a more recent formation, previously alluded to, with 
which I am to meet in ascending the Missouri. 

" I landed a mile or so before reachins; the mouth of the 
Sioux River, on the left bank of the Missouri, to examine a 
rocky bank, seemingly a continuation of those apparent at 
Wood's Hill. I found it to consist of — 

" 1st. A carboniferous limestone ; 

'' 2d. An argillaceous schistose limestone. 

" The rocks in this locality reach only to an elevation of 
seven or eight feet above the level of the river ; and I take 
notice of them here, because I am disposed to think that they 
are the last representatives of the carboniferous series in the 
ascent of the Missouri, and that the mouth of the Sioux 
River is the true limit in this direction of the old fossiliferous 
rocks. 

'' The rocks of which it (Dixon's Bluff) is composed, are 
the same that constantly make their appearance on ascending 
the river, at the base of the hills which bound the valley. I 



216 APPENDIX. 

shall content myself with describing them once for all. 
Moreover, to facilitate the reference which it may be neces- 
sary to make to the different geological divisions of a group 
of rocks which I propose to consider under the name of 
Dixon's Group, or Dixon's Bluff, I shall note the divisions 
of this group, in their ascending order, by the letters of the 
alphabet, viz.: — 

" A. Argillaceous limestone, containing inoceramus bara- 
bini, in great number and very much compressed, and so 
arranged as to give the rock a slaty structure. This stratum 
sinks below the bed of the river, and, consequently, its thick- 
ness is indeterminable ; that part of it above the water on the 
day of my examination was three feet. Starting from this 
place, and ascending the river, this rock must necessarily 
disappear below the level of the water. It is, probably, more 
conspicuous in the two preceding cliffs I have referred to 
before, but which I had not an opportunity of examining. 
The upper portions of the rock, that I did examine, contain 
nodules of iron pyrites, bemg an assemblage of small cubic, 
cubo-octaedral, and octaedral crystals. 

" B. A calcareous marl, generally from thirty to forty feet 
thick, but, at this spot, reduced, by a slide, to fifteen or twenty 
feet. Its colors are grey, greyish-blue, and sometimes yel- 
low. It contains but very few fossils. I found, myself, but 
one orbicula, and what appears to be a fish-scale. 

" C. This is a slightly ferruginous clay -bank, of a yellow- 
ish color, with seams of selenite, and affording, occasionally, 
rounded masses, somewhat resembling septariae. The sele- 
nite is in acicular crystals, or in its more usual form of rhombic 
prisms, variously truncated. 

Such are the three divisions that I have thought necessary 
to make in this group of rocks, and which arc always thus 
associated as tlie river is ascended. This group is the basis 



GEOLOGY. 217 

of the cretaceous formation of the Missouri. The upper 
sub-divisions, which I shall have occasion to establish further 
up, and that are not sufficiently distinct here, will complete 
an account of this interesting formation. 

'' On quitting Huppan-kutey Prairie, the entrance to the 
Wassisha, or Vermilion River, and that of the Riviere 
Jacques of the French, the Tchan-sansan of the Sioux, are 
passed by in succession.. In this interval, the valley hills are 
at a distance, and the cretaceous formation is not easily fol- 
lowed up ; but, a little further on, it re-appears on the left 
side, with the plateau dividing the waters that empty into the 
Tchan-sansan from those that flow into the Missouri. This 
upland is known as the ' Coteau des Prairies du Missouri,' 
or, more shortly, ' Coteau du Missouri.' 

" The elevated prairies that crown the right bank of the Mis- 
souri River, rise gradually in the direction of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, forming the northern extremity of those steppes, more ap- 
propriately designated the American Desert. Hence, it will be 
perceived that the river has its bed deeply incased in a valley, 
flanked on the left side by the Coteau du Missouri, and on 
the right by the American Desert. Over a length of 235 
miles, comprised within this valley, between the Ni-obrarah, 
or ' Eau-qui-court' river, and Fort Pierre Chouteau, the cre- 
taceous formation exhibits its fullest development. It may 
be satisfactorily examined at many places within this range ; 
but a perfect representation of the whole of them may be 
obtained, if, taking as a basis the description previously given 
of Dixon's Blufl", there be added to it the modification pre- 
sented by some of its new members. 

" I may be permitted to think that this cretaceous forma- 
tion is destined to occupy a conspicuous place in the history 
of American geology ; and, as I am not aware that any details 
concerning it are recorded, I shall now, to the exclusion of 
11 



218 APPENDIX. 

Other matters, possibly of equal interest, say all that I know 
about it. 

" It is necessary, then, in the first place, to take both a 
geographical and geological horizon. Thus, referring to the 
map : starting, for instance, from the Wicha-pahah, or Scalp 
Mountain Creek, in lat. 43^ 8^, and visiting, successively, as 
follows — the hills at the mouth of Whetstone Creek ; those 
in the vicinity of Red Cedar, Snags, and Sailor's Islands ; the 
Mankizitah, or White-earth River ; the American River, the 
Great Bend (which is the Karmichigah of the Sioux), it will 
be easy to understand all the circumstances about which I 
shall now give an account. 

" 1st. The stratum of argillaceous limestone, observed at 
Dixon's Bluff, has disappeared, in consequence of the eleva- 
tion of the level of the valley. 

" 2d. The calcareous marl, in horizontal stratification, 
continues to make its appearance in escarpments, of from 
thirty to forty feet, containing the same fossils — namely, orbi- 
cula and fish-scales. 

" Over this bed, or rather between it and the preceding 
one, there seems to be occasionally found a thin layer of 
fibrous carbonate of lime, the true position of which I was a 
long lime in determining, as I had discovered fragments of it 
only among the rubbish at the foot of the bluff. I have since 
observed it in place above the calcareous marl ; and it is 
interesting that it is covered with coats of a fossil, very much 
resembling the gryphoea Vomer, but which Mr. Conrad has 
described under the name of ostrea congesta. 

" 3d. The bed C, composed of a foliated and selenitous 
clay, acquires interest, as it developes itself in other localities. 
Its thickness is variable. I have found it twenty feet thick ; 
and its strata are divided by thin layers of a more indurated 
white clay. In these several stages, the seleniferous clay. 



GEOLOGY 219 

of a yellowish color at the bottom, becomes black and more 
foliated in its superior beds. The selenite is more abun- 
dant, replacing, as it were, the white indurated clay. 

" The specimens of selenite obtained from this division of 
the Dixon group are worthy of notice, in consequence of the 
peculiar forms that they assume — some of them presenting 
the appearance of leaves of trees, beautifully and gracefully 
scolloped ; which has encouraged me to venture upon a 
descriptive name, as a mineralogical variety, by which to 
designate them. I call them phylloidal selenite. Others are 
in the usual shape of six-sided regular prisms, ' en fer de 
lance," lanciform, radiating, &c. 

" 4th. The rock designated as D is the last member of the 
trans-Missisipian cretaceous formation, as it presents itself on 
the Missouri River. It is a vast deposit of plastic clay, about 
two hundred feet thick, which may be considered, however, 
divided into two equal parts by a stratum of argillaceous car- 
bonate of lime in nodules, of which I had no occasion to 
ascertain the thickness. Many of these nodules, having 
fallen from their original position, are met with in consider- 
able quantities in the beds of the ravines, and in other 
places. Associated with it is a ferruginous sandstone, 
which presents itself in flat polygons, on the surface of which 
there are seen numerous concentric lines of great regularity, 
so as to imitate the transverse sections of a tree. The same 
deposit contains, disseminated through it, lumps of the yel- 
lowish clay of the inferior stratum, C, and enclosing leaves 
of selenite, and cavities lined with concretionary gypsum. 
But these lumps are more frequent in the lower half of the 
deposite than in the upper, and finally cease altogether to 
appear. 

*' There are also found, throughout the clay deposit, loose 



220 APPENDIX. 

pieces of limestone, the origin of which I will not attempt to 
assign precisely, though they may have belonged to subordi- 
nate beds of this rock, that exist somewhere in this forma- 
tion. I have collected some myself ; others were brought 
to me by my men ; and, as a notification to future geologists 
who may travel over this region, I signalize them by their 
mineralogical characters. 

" 1. A cylindrical limestone, resembling arragonite. 

" 2. Limestone of loose texture, yellow, crossed by small 
and numerous veins of calcareous spar. 

" 3. Limestone of a greyish color, with veins of calcareous 
spar, and invested occasionally by dog-tooth spar. [C. carb. 
metastastique of Hauy.] 

" 4. Greyish limestone, with veins of calcareous spar. 

" The inferior members of the group that I have just 
described contain, it is true, but rare and indistinct organic 
remains. But no richer field could be offered to the fossil 
conchologist than that presented by the upper portions of the 
plastic clay — ^by the variety, the abundance, and the beauty 
of the specimens, being nearly all new species of ammonites, 
baculites, belemnites, hipponyx, cytherea, tellina, inoceramus, 
&c. The species, however, which, from its abundance, and 
the different signs under which it is found, would seem to me 
to characterize the whole formation, is the inoceramus bara- 
bini of Morton. 

" This cretaceous formation may be considered, I believe, 
as fairly exhibiting the characteristic features in the geology 
of the Missouri, over an extent of country more than 400 
miles in length by water, starting from the mouth of the 
Sioux River, which latter river is 795 miles from the conflu- 
ence of the former with the Missisippi, to the approach of the 
Shayen, which I have laid down on my map as the Washtey, 
or Good River of the Sioux. It will be readily conceived 



GEOLOGY. 221 

that, as the level of the valley of the Missouri gradually rises, 
there is a corresponding depression in that of the formation. 
But w^hat remains of it at the spot vsrhere I left it, conjoined to 
information gathered, leads me to suppose that other traces 
of it will be found, perhaps, not far from the Yellow Stone 
River ; so that its whole extent along the Missouri, in a 
generally NW. course, would be no less than 1,000 miles. 
As to its western limits, without pretending to define these 
positively, I may state that I have in my possession interest- 
ing fragments of ammonite placenta and baculite ovatus, 
brought to me from the clay-banks of the upper part of 
Shayen and White Rivers. It is, therefore, probable that 
the extent of the formation, due W., is not less than 250 miles 
by water, along which it is, probably, open to examination. 

'' The plateau of the Coteau des Prairies is composed, in 
a great measure, of the materials belonging to what I have 
named the erratic deposit, as is evidenced by the nature of 
its soil, the physiognomy of the ridges and hillocks that 
diversify its surface, the deep ravines by which it is flanked, 
and the innumerable erratic blocks strewed over the borders 
of its lakes. 

'' We have no data by which to determine the inferior 
limits of this deposit ; still, there is reason to think it rests 
upon such primary rocks as show themselves along the line 
of rapids of the Upper St. Peter's, consisting of granite, 
sienitic, and other metamorphic rocks. Nevertheless, over 
the vast extent of this plateau, there is, apparently, but one 
spot where the subjacent rock makes its appearance — and 
this is at the Indian Red Pipestone Quarry, so called. 

" The Falls of St. Anthony form the hmits of the calca- 
reous deposit that characterizes the shores of the Missi- 
sippi from the mouth of the Wisconsin. The rocky forma- 
tions then assume another type, being the several varieties 



222 APPENDIX. 

of green stone, and finally passing into talcose slate, which is 
visible at the falls of the Wabezi, or Swan River, and the 
Omoshkos, or Elk River, near their entrances. 

" The most prominent geological feature of the country, on 
the eastern side of the river, a little below the Pikwabik, is 
a large mass in situ of a sienitic rock, with flesh-colored 
felspar, extending a mile in length, with a breadth of half a 
mile, and an elevation of eighty feet, known as the Little 
Rock. Higher up, and still on the same side of the river, 
at the foot of the Knife Rapids, there are sources that trans- 
port a very fine, brilliant, and bluish sand, accompanied by 
a soft and unctuous matter. This appears to be the result 
of a decomposition of a steaschist, probably interposed 
between the sienitic rocks previously mentioned. The same 
thing is observed at the mouths of Wabezi and Omoshkos 
Rivers. 

" The geological features of the country, in the ascent of 
the Missisippi, from the St. Peter's to the Falls of St. An- 
thony, are as follows : 

"1. Fine grained, unstratified sandstone, constituting the 
base of the bluff", and ranging in thickness between sixty and 
eighty feet, of a very friable character ; each grain being a 
crystalline fragment of quartz. In some parts of the mass 
the grains are stained with oxide of iron ; while in others 
they are perfectly white. It is probable that the sand fur- 
nished by the latter would serve in the manufacture of glass. 

" 2. A compact sublamellar limestone of variable colors, 
as fawn, yellowish-buff*, or greyish. It contains many fos- 
sils, but very irregularly distributed in the mass ; some being 
covered with brilliant crystals of carbonate of lime, and 
others entirely mineralized. This bed is from eight to twelve 
feet thick, weathering into layers of from two inches to a 
foot thick. The limestone under consideration resembles 



GEOLOGY. 223 

much, in mineralogical characters, that which has been 
named cKfF Hmestone by Dr. Locke in his Report on the 
Geology of the State of Ohio, and which has been more 
recently again described by Dr. Owen in his Report on the 
Mineral Region of Illinois and of Iowa. Should the two 
rocks be identical, No. 2 of the preceding section would then 
be the equivalent of the Western blue limestone of these 
geologists ; with the difference, that the two rocks are here 
less developed than in the other localities observed by them. 

"3. Soil, consisting of sand, gravel, and clay, mixed with 
the disintegration of the limestone in place, and amidst 
which there are erratic blocks scattered over the plains and 
on the slopes on the hills, and which are traced to the sum- 
mits of the Pilot Knob. 

"As it is important, in geology, to determine the precise 
limits of formations, I shall add a few words on this subject. 
The geological formation of St. Peter's continues to show 
itself in the river of the same name, and goes on thinning 
out as far as Waraju Rivei (the riviere aux Liards of the 
French), and there it disappears. Hence it passes to the 
head-waters of Mankato River, crosses the southern part of 
the Coteau des Prairies, and finally loses itself in the Mis- 
souri, Sioux, and Iowa Rivers, as previously explained when 
describing the extent of the cretaceous formation." 

Mr. Keating, the geologist of Long's second expedition, 
gives the following description of a portion of country east 
of the river : — 

" On the banks of this stream" (the Wassemon, one of the 
upper branches of the Pectanon, as called by Long, or Peck- 
tonica, as called by the Indians) " we observed the lime- 
stone in place, forming cliffs of about fifty feet in height. 
The rock is in very distinct horizontal stratification ; its 
structure is in many parts crystalline, or perhaps it may 



224 APPENDIX. 

more properly be called gravelly and sandy. It contains 
many cells or cavities, some of which are filled with crys- 
tallizations of carbonate of lime : much white hornstone 
appears disseminated throughout the mass. The hornstone 
is sometimes seen to constitute small beds or layers from one 
to three or four inches in thickness, which are continued for 
several feet in length ; frequently also appearing under the 
form of flattened irregular nodules lying in an almost con- 
tinuous line for a considerable distance, and with their long 
or flattened side parallel to the stratification ; resembling in 
this respect the disposition of the clay-iron stone in the slaty 
strata that accompany the bituminous coal. Organic remains 
are by no means uncommon, though they are not found as 
abundantly as in some other spots of our route. They con- 
sist of terebratulitcs, encrinites, and a madreporite (Linne) ; 
the true nature of the last of these could not be ascertained 
without a comparison of characters, which we were unable 
to make on the spot, and which the loss of all the specimens 
collected between Fort Wayne and Fort St. Anthony, has 
prevented Mr. Say from making since ; the rock is of a 
greyish yellow color, with a loose structure. We are aware 
that some of the characters which we have given of this rock 
might lead to the opinion that it resembles the mountain or 
carboniferous limestone of Messrs. Conybeare and Phillips ; 
and consequently that it is the same as the metalliferous 
limestone of other geologists ; but we would consider this 
opinion as a very hasty, not to say, an incorrect one. Although 
its cavernous nature, its indication of crystalhzation, and its 
organic remains, present an apparent correspondence with 
those of that limestone as described by the Rev. W. D. 
Conybeare in the excellent * Outlines of the Geology of Eng- 
land and Wales' (part i., p. 353), we incline to the opinion 
that this rock is of a much later formation ; we believe it to 



GEOLOGY. 225 

be connected with a limestone which was subsequently 
observed in the Missisippi, between Prairie Du Chien and 
St. Anthony, and in which we observed an oolite and a pul- 
verulent limestone similar to the calcareous ashes described 
by Mr. Freisleben in his elaborate account of the formations 
of Thuringen. If we compare the characters of this rock 
with those of the limestone observed by Mr, Freisleben, and 
described by him under the name of zechstein and rauch- 
wacke, we will be surprised at the great similarity in their 
appearance. The zechstein is a compact, hard and tough 
limestone of an ash-grey color, passing into blackish-grey, 
distinctly stratified, without however presenting any slaty 
appearance, or, at least, much less so than the inferior beds. 
It contains specks and some veins of calcareous spar and 
gypsum ; also crystals of quartz, &;c. : it likewise offers 
sometimes specks of galena. It generally presents but few 
petrifactions. Corallites and millepores, as well as several 
species of terebratulites, ammonites, &c., have been found 
in it. 

" Above this compact limestone another stratum of calca- 
reous rock is found, which is known in the country under the 
name of rauchwacke (smoky wack6). It is a limestone pro- 
bably intermixed with silex, of a dark grey, sometimes 
blackish color, with a somewhat scaly fracture, occasionally 
fine-grained, sometimes, though seldom, oolitic, hard, tough, 
and filled with pores or cavities : this last feature is charac- 
teristic. It may be observed even in those parts of the 
stratum which appear most compact. The cavities are 
angular, long and narrow (as in a cracked clay). The inte- 
rior of the cavities is lined with small crystals of calc-spar. 
These cavities are sometimes large, being several yards in 
length and breadth. He afterwards proceeds to describe the 
ashes or pulverulent substance found near it. This, from its 
11* 



226 APPENDIX. 

great similarity to the residue of the combustion of wood, is 
designated in Germany by the name of asche (ashes). 
These characters, when taken into connection, appear to us 
to coiTCspond so well with those observed on the Wassemon, 
on the Missisippi, and throughout the country between Rock 
River and Prairie Du Chien, that we feel strongly induced 
to consider the limestone of this country as analogous to that 
observed by Mr. Freisleben. This limestone is, by some 
European continental geologists, referred to the Lias of 
English geologists ; but we would rather refer it, with 
Messrs. Conybeare and Phillips, to the newer magnesian or 
conglomerate limestone of England. To this we think it 
has the strongest analogy. It is probably connected, as wc 
have already intimated, with the limestone situated above the 
coal fields of Wheeling and Zanesville. It extends over 
those parts of Ohio and Indiana where salt has been found. 
It is observed cellular, cavernous, &c., on the banks of the 
Wassemon. It is connected with real calcareous ashes on 
the Missisippi. The presence of the oolite which was ob- 
served here in a single spot, does not militate against the 
position which we have taken, as we find it stated by Cony- 
beare and Phillips (page 302) on the authority of Mr. Wynch, 
that the magnesian limestone is occasionally oolitic. It pre- 
sents, in many of its points, the characters of the rauch- 
wacke, and especially the cellular or cavernous structure. 
It is seldom found very abundantly strewed with organic 
remains. Its color is the pale buff, passing to the ash-grey. 
In fine, the more attentively we examine it, the more closely 
do we find it to connect itself with the formations of Thurin- 
gen, and with those which cover so extensive a part of Eng- 
land, and more particularly with that observed in Yorkshire 
by Professor Buckland ; offering thus, as it appears to us, 
a beautiful confirmation of the analogy established between 



GEOLOGY. 227 

the various kinds of this limestone observed in divers parts 
of Europe. There is an experiment which would, as we 
conceive, place the matter beyond a doubt : this would be 
an analysis of the limestone, with a view to ascertain the 
quantity of magnesia which it contains, and we regret much 
that the loss of our specimens has deprived us of the oppor- 
tunity of this analysis. But we think the case sufficiently 
strong to justify us in considering this as the formation cor- 
responding to the magnesian limestone of England, and to 
the rauchwacke and zechstein of Thuringen. 

****** 

" The features which we observed from the Wassemon to 
the Wisconsin are extremely interesting. At a distance of a 
few miles northwest of the former stream, the vegetation 
presented a sudden and striking change, announcing a cor- 
responding one in the geological character of the country. 
We ascended a rough, steep, and hilly ground, which was 
covered with heavy timber, and with a very thick underwood, 
consisting principally of young oak and aspen. This thick 
brushwood continued for about two miles, when we struck 
the bank of a small stream remarkable for the beauty of its 
scenery, which differed from any that we had hitherto met 
with. The brook runs in a deep and narrow glen, the sides 
of which are very steep, and, in some places, vertical. 
They are covered, at their summit, with a dense vegetation, 
which extends over the edge of the rock, and imparts a 
character of austerity and of gloom to this secluded valley, 
which finds not its parallel in any that we recollect ever to 
have seen.* The dark color which the water receives from 

* This stream is an upper branch of the Pectanon, on its right bank, 
about 8' south of lat. 43°. It may not be easily comprehended by some of 
our readers, how a valley exceeding all others in austerity and gloom could 
be remarkable for the beauty of its scenery. We are quoting only the 



228 APPENDIX. 

the deep shadows cast by the high, steep bank and its over- 
hanging vegetation, forms a pleasing rehef to the glare, so 
uniformly fatiguing, of the unsheltered prairie. This spot 
conveyed so much relief to the eye and to the mind, that the 
party could not repress their delight on beholding it. The 
geologist who connects a change in the nature of the subja- 
cent rock, with a diversity in the character of the country, or 
its vegetation, would naturally find an explanation for the 
new features which the country assumes, by observing that 
the high banks of this glen are formed of sandstone rocks, 
the nature of which we had an opportunity of studying with 
attention during a great part of our journey of the 18th of 
June. We observed that the sandstone is distinctly super- 
posed to the limestone ; that it constitutes, upon it, hills 
which vary from 30 to 100 feet and upwards ; these hills 
are divided by valleys, in the bottom of which the limestone 
reappears in place. The sides of the hills are steep, and but 
few indications of stratification are observable, except where 
the valley is partly excavated in the limestone itself ; in 
which case the lower part of the hill is less steep, but pre- 
sents a distinct stratification. The line of superposition of 
the sandstone over the limestone may also be traced with 
considerable accuracy, by the examination of the vegetation. 
Whenever the latter rock prevails, the surface is even and 
smooth, or modified by gentle swells covered with a thick 
and long grass, and forming an uniform fine green, meadow- 
like country, while the sandstone invariably imparts to the 
surface an asperity which is as distinct as the vigorous growth 
of trees with which it is covered, and as its abundant under- 
growth which denotes a strong and productive soil, having a 
tendency to bear heavy forests. 

geological facts of the author, and our readers are at liberty to differ in 
matters of taste. 



GEOLOGY. 229 

" The rock is a white sandstone formed of fragments of 
fine transparent and colorless quartz, united by a cement, 
which, in some parts, appears to be ferruginous, while, in 
others, it is colorless, and probably of a calcareous nature. 
In some parts the cement is quite invisible, and would almost 
lead to the belief that the union of the grains was a crystal- 
line one. This sandstone appears in fragments or tatters, 
and constitutes the remains of a formation which probably 
covered the whole of the limestone, at least in this part of 
the country. That it is above the limestone no doubt can 
exist in our minds, as we saw the immediate superposition. It 
sometimes appears, it is true, to sink below the level of that 
rock, and this led us, at first, to apprehend that there might 
be an alternation of strata, but a careful examination of all 
these spots has left no doubt in our minds, that in these 
cases the sandstone is deposited in coves or valleys formed in 
the limestone previous to the deposition of the sandstone. 
The cases are, however, not common, and we may safely 
state, as a general rule, that not only the sandstone is rela- 
tively above the limestone, but that it is even, in almost all 
cases, at a greater absolute elevation, and the spot at which 
we first met with it, west of the Wassemon, was considera- 
bly elevated above the usual level of the limestone ; for 
wherever the sandstone has retained its position, it has pro- 
tected the limestone against decomposition, and hence, in 
such places, the latter rock still continues to rise to a higher 
level than where it is laid bare, and exposed to the destruc- 
tive influence of atmospherical agents. We also observed 
very distinctly, that while the valleys formed in the limestone 
at a time anterior to the deposition of the sandstone were 
few, those produced subsequently were numerous, as was 
indicated by the great roughness and unevenness of the sand 



230 APPENDIX. 

Stone country, and by the many undulations in the uncovered 
limestone which we have already had occasion to mention. 
From the observations made on the 18th, it was thought very 
probable that all the hills observed at a distance on the 17th, 
were formed of this sandstone ; and from some characters 
which had appeared at the time to present an anomaly it was 
inferred that the Enneshoteno or Twin Mountains, near 
which we had passed that day without stopping, were proba- 
bly also remains of the general sandstone formation which 
extended over the whole country. No organic remains were 
observed in the sandstone, or in the limestone which under- 
lays it, but no doubt can exist that they may contain some, 
and that the limestone probably contains many. 

" Proceeding towards the Wisconsin, the country presents 
an alternation of rolling and undulated prairie, interspersed 
with hills composed of either one or the other of these rocks. 
The sandstone is found in most places to be covered with 
thin, flattened fragments of a stone differing in its nature 
and texture from the character of the other rocks, whether 
of limestone or sandstone. These fragments are generally 
observed to vary from three to twelve inches in length, from 
two to eight in breadth, and from one quarter to one inch in 
thickness. They present appearances of having been wea- 
thered, but not of having been rolled. They are very abun- 
dant, and we could account for them in no other way than by 
admitting that they were the remains, probably the harder 
parts of a stratum that had at one time covered the sand- 
stone, but that had disappeared almost entirely, leaving only 
these fragments to attest its former existence and situation. 
On examining these fragments with care, we found them to 
be very uniform in their characters. Their composition is, 
in great measure, calcareous, but from their greater hardness 



GEOLOGY. 231 

we consider it as partly siliceous.* They are replete with 
organic remains. They are principally referrible to the pro- 
ductae, terebratulae, &c. We saw none but what belonged 
to bivalves. The existence of these fragments was observed 
upon many elevations, over a considerable extent of coun- 
try, while in the valleys no trace of them could be seen. 
Generalizing the observations made during the three last days 
of our journey previous to our arrival on the Missisippi, we 
are led to admit that there are, or rather that there were for- 
merly, two distinct formations of limestone in this country, 
and that they were separated by a thick stratum of sand- 
stone. Of these two limestone formations, the older one, 
which we have already described with minuteness, we have 
been induced to consider as coeval with, or analogous to, the 
magnesian limestone of England. The superior formation 
is distinguished by the circumstance of its containing harder 
fragments or nodules of limestone, which alone remain to 
establish the fact of its former existence : that it contained 
no hornstone or flinty quartz, as observed in the former, we 
are led to believe, because had they existed, they must 
necessarily have resisted decomposition, as well or better 
than the calcareous nodules which are now found alone. 
The much greater abundance of shells in these nodules, and 
the total absence of the madreporites, appear to us to be very 
characteristic distinctions between these and the underlaying 
limestone, though perhaps too much weight ought not to be 
assigned to the absence of the madreporites, as these, from 
their loose and more porous texture, may have been unable 
to resist the decomposing causes which appear to have 
affected this formation. In some places a limestone bed was 

*■ There are localities occasionally on both sides of the river, where the 
surface of the ground for a small distance is covered with these chert 
fragments. 



232 APPENDIX. 

observed upon the sandstone, but these depositions were so 
partial, and in all cases the ground was so much overgrown 
with bushes, that we were unable to examine their cliarac- 
ters with any degree of minuteness. This striking differ- 
ence, however, we observed, and we are led to consider it as 
constant, that the inferior limestone, wherever it appears 
exposed, is covered with small scales or fragments of the 
hornstone nodules whose existence has already been alluded 
to, while none of the flat calcareous fragments, abounding in 
shells, are found upon it ; whereas these were uniformly 
observed to the exclusion of the scales of hornstone upon 
the surface of the calcareous stratum that overlays the sand- 
stone." 

Mr. Keating gives the following further account of his 
examination of the St. Peter's : — 

" The bluff upon which the fort is built offers a good oppor- 
tunity for observing the geological structure of the country. 
It consists of several strata, all disposed in parallel and hori- 
zontal superposition. On the surface of the ground blocks 
of limestone are found, whicli appear to be the remains of a 
stratum that has, in great measure, disappeared. These are, 
in most cases, of a compact and earthy texture, destitute of 
any organic remains, exhibiting occasional specks of a crys- 
talline nature, which are observed to be calcareous, as, not- 
withstanduig their small volume, they present a distinct 
rhombohedral cleavage. The first stratum which is observed 
is about eight feet thick. It is formed of limestone, present- 
ing a very distinct slaty structure. The texture of the rock 
is compact, its fracture splinteiy and uneven. Organic 
remains abound in it. These are, as far as we saw, exclu- 
sively producti. They lie in the rock as thick as possible. 
A small vacant space is generally observed between the inner 
and the outer casts of the shell. This is, however, generally 



GEOLOGY. 233 

filled up with a crystallization of calcareous spar. The form 
of the crystals cannot be made out, on account of their 
extreme tenuity. The color of this limestone, as well as of 
the loose blocks found upon it, is a light greyish-yellow. 
This stratum rests upon another calcareous bed, which dilfifers 
from the preceding, in the total absence of organic remains, 
and in its color, which is of a light blue. Its structure is 
more compact ; so is its fracture. Its horizontal stratifica- 
tion is distinct, but, the stratum being thicker, it is more sus- 
ceptible of being used in building. It produces, in fact, an 
excellent stone, which admits of being hewn, and which is 
the chief material used in the construction of the fort. This 
bed is from fifteen to twenty feet thick. When examined 
with the microscope, the rock presents very general signs of 
crystallization, its texture becomes sub-saccharoidal, and 
veins of calcspar, of an inconsiderable thickness, traverse it 
in every direction. There are, also, cavities in which crys- 
tals of carbonate of lime are distinctly seen. Independent 
of the building-stone which it yields, this bed is likewise 
valuable as producing the best lime of any found in the 
vicinity. Immediately under this bed of limestone, in paral- 
lel stratification, we observed the sandstone, which consti- 
tutes the principal mass of the bluff, being about sixty feet in 
thickness. It is a very friable stone, and, in some cases, the 
grains of which it is formed are so loosely united, that it 
appears almost like sand. Every fragment, if examined with 
care, seems to be a regular crystal, and we incline much to 
the opinion that this sandstone must have been formed by a 
chemical precipitation, and not by a mere mechanical deposi- 
tion. The process of its formation may have been a very 
rapid one, such as is obtained in the manufacture of fine salt; 
and to this may be attributed the circumstance of its 
loose texture. The grain is very fine. Its color is white, 



234 APPENDIX. 

sometimes a little yellowish, in which case it resembles in 
texture, color, &c., the finer varieties of Muscovado sugar. 
The loose texture of the rock is, probably, the cause of its 
presenting but few indications of stratification. The rock 
which we have just described rests upon a slaty limestone, 
which has a striped aspect ; the stripes or zones are curved. 
This limestone appears to be very argillaceous, and is a little 
softer than the preceding ; its structure is quite earthy ; it 
effervesces strongly in nitric acid ; its color is a light yellow. 
The thickness of this bed is about ten feet. Below this, 
another stratum of limestone is found, which imbeds small 
black pebbles of quartz, and assumes, therefore, in a slight 
degree, the character of a pudding-stone, or conglomerate. 
Its grain is more crystalline than that of the preceding 
stratum. It is filled with small cavities, probably the result 
of a contraction during the consolidation of the mass. Its 
color varies from a bluish to a yellowish-grey. This stratum 
is about seven feet thick. It rises but four feet above the 
level of the water, and the only rock visible under it is another 
variety of limestone, which diff"ers from the preceding, inas- 
much as its grain is much finer and its texture more ear.thy. 
It is only visible for four feet. The bed of the river appears 
to be excavated near the fort in this stratum of limestone. 
Neither of these limestone formations, under the sandstone, 
contains any traces of organic remains. If we consider the 
three inferior beds of limestone as being modifications of the 
same formation, as we, doubtless, ought to do, then we shall 
find this bluff" to be composed of three different formations — 
a superior one of lime, with abundant impressions of shells in 
one of its beds ; an intermediate one of sandstone ; and an 
inferior, calcareous formation, without any organic remains. 
The latter certainly bears some resemblance to the limestone 



GEOLOGY. 235 

found on the Wassemon, though we are unwilKng to pro- 
nounce upon their identity. 

******* 
" It would remain for us, in order to complete this view 
of the geology of the Falls, to inquire whether the limestone 
observed at the falls corresponds with that superior to the 
sandstone south of the Wisconsin ; and if that found near the 
level of the river at the fort be analogous to that observed 
under the sandstone between the Wisconsin and Wassemon. 
We shall not affect a degree of certainty which we do not 
possess, but we may be permitted to advance an opinion that 
the sandstone is probably of analogous formation, and that, 
therefore, the strata of limestone which we found at the Falls 
correspond w^th that stratum, of whose existence, at a former 
period, between the Wassemon and Wisconsin, we think we 
have evident proofs. We have in our possession specimens 
taken in both places, filled with, apparently, the same organic 
remains, and exhibiting characters in the rock which corre- 
spond as well as could be expected from pieces collected at 
three hundred miles' distance from each other." — Long^s 2d 
Eorped., vol. i., p. 306, et seq. 



Extracts from the Report of a Geological Exploration in 
party of Iowa,Wisconsin and Illinois. By D. D. Owen. 

" Throughout the Western States, generally, the secondary 
formation prevails, covered up in various locations, some- 
times to a considerable depth, by recent alluvial and diluvial 
deposits. 

" This secondary series of rocks comprehends various sub- 
divisions of distinct character and invariable succession, 
which, in their turn, have been again subdivided. 



236 A.PPENDIX. 

" Of these groups, the mountain limestone particularly 
claims our attention, as almost all the rocks of Iowa and 
Wisconsin are referrible to that subdivision. 

" In the western States, above-mentioned, these subdivi- 
sions generally vary in thickness from one hundred to one 
thousand feet, with the exception of the cliff limestone, 
which, in some districts, is hardly distinguishable, and, in 
general, does not exceed one hundred feet in thickness. 

*' Now, this cliff limestone, so spanngly developed else- 
where, swells, in the Wisconsin lead region, into the most 
remarkable, most important, and most bulky member of the 
group. It becomes, as it were, the Aaron's rod, swallowing 
up all the rest. It attains to a thickness of upward of five 
hundred and fifty feet, while the underlying blue limestone, 
which, in Ohio, has usually from eight hundred to one thou- 
sand feet of thickness, shrinks, in many places, to less than 
one hundred feet, and, in others, seems wholly wanting ; 
while, at the same time, the black slate, commonly found 
above the cliff limestone, seems also deficient ; and it is 
doubtful whether the fine-grained limestone, or the oolitic 
limestone, or the conglomerate, can be detected at all through- 
out the entire tract of country Avhich has been subjected to 
exploration. 

" In a word, in the region now under consideration, the 
cliff limestone, with a variable and usually thin substratum 
of blue limestone, seems to engross the entire mountain lime- 
stone group ; and the coal-measures, where found (namely, 
in the extreme southern boundary of the tract), occur in 
immediate contact with it, instead of being separated, as usual 
m Ohio and the neighboring States, by three distinct mem- 
bers, occupying about one thousand feet in thickness. 

" This enormous development of one of the members of the 
mountain limestone group, and the almost complete oblitera 



GEOLOGY. 237 

tion of the rest (with the single exception of the blue lime- 
stone, upon which, also, it much encroaches) is peculiar, so 
far as my observations in the Western States extend, to the 
district of country which is the object of the present report. 
In the north of this district, the cliff limestone appears to run 
out, the blue limestone and underlying sandstones coming to 
the surface. South, it disappears beneath the coal-measures. 
East, it seems to be chiefly covered up by recent deposits, 
extending, probably, in an east or southeasterly direction 
beneath these, across the States of Illinois and Indiana, into 
the State of Ohio. And west, so far as our examinations 
went, it is also chiefly covered up by recent deposits, occur- 
ring, however, occasionally, in the beds of the streams, and 
projecting, at first in cliflfs, and at last only in low ledges, 
from their banks. 

*' The general geological character of the country explored 
may, then, be thus briefly summed up. It belongs to that 
class of rocks called, by recent geologists, secondary, and, by 
others, occasionally included in the transition series. It 
belongs, further, to a division of this class of rocks, described, 
in Europe, as the mountain limestone, or, sometimes, as the 
carboniferous, or metalliferous, or encrinital limestone. And 
it belongs, yet more especially, to a subdivision of this group, 
known popularly, where it occurs in the west, as the clifl" 
limestone, and described under that name by the geologists 
of Ohio. 

" This last is the rock formation in which the lead, copper, 
iron, and zinc, of the region under consideration, are almost 
exclusively found ; and its unusual development, doubtless, 
much conduces to the extraordinary mineral riches of this 
favored region. It, therefore, demands, and shall hereafter 
receive, particular analysis and attention. 

" In the northern portion of the district surveyed, an 

# 



238 APPENDIX. 

interesting and somewhat uncommon feature in the geology 
of Western America presents itself. I refer to the strata (of 
considerable depth) which crop out along a narrow strip of 
the northern boundary-line of this district, and which are 
chiefly observable in the bluffs on both sides of the Wisconsin 
River, whence (if we may rely on the representations of 
Schoolcraft and others) they extend north even to the Falls 
of St. Anthony. 

" These strata are interesting ; first, as being the only 
instance known to me, in the Valley of the Missisippi, in 
which the rocks underlying the blue limestone can be seen 
emerging from beneath it to the surface ; and, secondly, as 
apparently supplying an example of those alternations of 
neighboring strata, to which I have already alluded as being 
partial exceptions to the invariable order of geological super- 
position. 

'' Immediately below the substratum of blue limestone 
which constitutes the lowest member of the moixitain lime- 
stone group, where it has been observed east of the Missi- 
sippi, there occurs, and shows itself in the Wisconsin bluffs, 
a stratum of sandstone, in some places of a deep red, and in 
others of a white color, resembling loaf-sugar ; and thence 
called, in Dr. Locke's diagrams exhibiting the sections on 
the Wisconsin River, saccharoid (or sugar-like) sandstone. 

" Immediately beneath this succeeds a magnesian lime- 
stone, so similar to the cliff limestone, both in external appear- 
ance and chemical composition, as not to be distinguishable 
from it in hand-specimens, alternating with other layers of 
sandstone, similar to that above-described. 

" The actual average dip of the rocks throughout the dis- 
trict, according to the observations made by Dr. Locke, is 
from nine to ten feet per mile, but it is occasionally much 
greater. For example, from the moutli of Turkey river to 
% 



GEOLOGY. 239 

Prairie du Chien, the blue limestone rises at an average rate 
of seventeen and a half feet per mile. The dip, however, is 
subject to undulations ; for instance, at Dubuque, the blue 
limestone does not show itself above low-water mark ; at 
Eagle point, a mile and a half up the Missisippi, it rises ten 
feet above low water ; at the mouth of the Little Makoqueta, 
four miles farther up, its height above low- water mark is forty 
feet ; at the mouth of Turkey river, twenty miles farther up, 
it disappears again beneath the waters of the Missisippi ; a 
few miles beyond this point, it emerges again to the surface ; 
and, finally, at Prairie du Chien, twenty miles above Turkey 
river, its upper surface has already attained an elevation of 
more than four hundred feet above the level of the Missisippi. 
The line of the greatest general dip is about south, ten to 
twenty degrees west. 

*' The importance of these observations on the dip of the 
rocks, forming as they do the materials to calculate the thick- 
ness of each stratum at any given spot, is very great. Endeed, 
such observations are indispensable, before an accurate esti- 
mate can be formed of the value and extent of a mineral 
tract. They indicate, with much fidelity, the depth to which, 
at different points, a productive vein of ore is likely to extend." 

'' I have preferred and adopted the name of clifi" limestone 
to designate this rock (though a popular rather than a scien- 
tific term), because it aptly expresses its most striking external 
characteristic, which imparts to the scenery of any country 
in which the rock abounds a bold and romantic character. J 
allude to its disposition to cleave vertically, and form per- 
pendicular cliffs. 

" These mural escarpments, exhibiting every variety of 
form, give to the otherwise monotonous character of the land- 
scape in Iowa a varied and picturesque appearance. Some- 
times they may be seen in the distance, rising from out the 



240 APPENDIX. 

rolling hills of the prairie, like ruined castles, moss-grown 
under the hand of time. 

" Sometimes they present, even when more closely in- 
spected, a curious resemblance to turrets, and bastions, and 
battlements, and even to the loopholes and embrasures of a 
regular fortification. Sometimes single blocks are seen jutting 
forth, not unlike dormant Vv^ndows rising through the turf clad 
roof of an old cottage ; and again, at times, especially along 
the descending spurs of the hills, isolated masses emerge in 
a thousand fanciful shapes, in which the imagination readily 
recognizes the appearance of giants, sphinxes, lions, and 
innumerable fantastic resemblances. 

" The appearance of this rock is further modified by the 
peculiar manner in which it weathers. Numerous masses of 
chert (a variety of flint), and also many siliceous fossils, are 
interspersed through its mass ; and these, becoming gradually 
loosened by the action of air and water, drop out, and leave 
cavities of various shapes and sizes. Thus the rock is fre- 
quently found riddled with irregular holes, from a few inches 
to a foot in diameter, giving its surface a rugged and almost 
bone-like appearance. Frequently this variety in the compo- 
sition of the rock gives occasion to an undermining process 
on the lower surface of a cliif, which gradually proceeds, 
until, perhaps, a towering and tottering column remains, sup- 
ported on a contracted base, which threatens every moment 
to give way and precipitate the poised mass into the valley 
beneath. 

" The cliff limestone of Iowa is, strictly speaking, a mag- 
nesian limestone, containing (by careful analysis of four 
separate specimens from different localities) from thirty-five 
to forty per cent, of carbonate of magnesia. 

" It contains, on the average, from eigliteen to twenty per 
cent of pure magnesia ; and by mere solution in sulphuric 



GEOLOGY. 241 

acid, is capable of yielding no less than one hundred and ten 
to one hundred and twenty parts of crystallized Epsom salts 
(sulphate of magnesia), and sixty parts of gypsum (anhydrous 
sulphate of lime), from every hundred parts of the rock. So 
that if sulphuric acid can be obtained or produced at a suffi- 
ciently cheap rate in Wisconsin, Epsom salts may there be 
manufactured profitably, and to an unlimited extent. I have 
at present, in my laboratory, two hundred and thirty grains 
of Epsom salts prepared from two hundred grains of the rock. 

"It is from magnesian limestone that the Epsom salts of 
commerce are now commonly procured. 

" But though the cliff rock is a magnesian limestone, and 
though the proportions of carbonate of lime and magnesia, 
which chiefly compose it, indicate that it is even a chemical 
compound rather than a mechanical mixture, yet it cannot 
with propriety, nor without risk of misconception, be called 
the magnesian limestone, as a late writer on the geology of 
Upper Illinois has termed the corresponding formation be- 
tween Chicago and Ottawa ; since it is only a subdivision of 
the mountain limestone group, always occurring beneath the 
true coal-measures ; whereas, the magnesian limestone of 
geologists (the zechstein of the Germans) is one of the lower 
members of the new red sandstone group, and overlies the 
bituminous coal formation. 

" Phillips, speaking, as it would seem, of the great scar 
limestone of the north of England, which he there calls ' the 
great limestone,' says : * It is considered to have produced as 
much lead as all the other sills put together.' This is pre- 
eminently true of the cliff limestone of Iowa and Wisconsin. 

" The lead region lies, as will be remarked, chiefly in Wis- 
consin, including, however, a strip of about eight townships 
of land in Iowa, along the western bank of the Missisippi, 
the greatest width of which strip is on the Little Maquoketa, 
12 



242 APPENDIX. 

about twelve miles from east to west, and including also about 
ten townships in the northwestern comer of Illinois. The 
portion of this lead region in Wisconsin includes about sixty- 
two townships. The entire lead region, then, comprehends 
about eighty townships, or two thousand eight hundred and 
eighty square miles ; being about one-third larger than the 
State of Delaware. The extreme length of this lead region, 
from east to west, is eighty-seven miles ; and its greatest 
width, from north to south, is fifty-four milts. 

" The boundary of this region commences on the Missi- 
sippi River, w^here the south line of township eighty-seven 
north, range four east of the fifth principal meridian, crosses 
that stream immediately below the mouth of the Little Tete 
des Morts ; and runs thence six miles due west, thence six 
miles north, thence six miles west, thence northwest diago- 
nally through township eighty-eight, range two east, and town- 
ship eighty-nine, range one east, both of the fourth [fifth] prin- 
cipal meridian, until the line strikes the fifth principal meridian, 
where the line dividing townships eighty-nine and ninety 
crosses said meridian line ; thence six miles north, thence six 
miles west, thence three miles north, thence three miles west, 
thence three miles north, thence three miles west, thence three 
miles north, thence three miles west, thence three miles north, 
thence three miles east, thence north to the Missisippi, which 
it strikes about seven miles below the mouth of the Wiscon- 
sin River, thence, crossing the Missisippi, it runs diagonally 
through township five, range six west, of the fourth principal 
meridian, to the northeast corner of said township ; thence six 
miles east, thence three miles north, thence eighteen miles 
cast, thence three miles north, thence three miles east, thence 
three miles north, thence nine miles east, thence six miles 
south, thence twelve miles east, thence eighteen miles east, 
passing along the northern base of the Blue Mounds ; thence 



GEOLOGY. 243 

twelve miles south, thence twelve miles east, thence twelve 
miles south, thence six miles west, thence six miles south, 
thence twelve miles west, thence six miles south, striking the 
northern boundary-line of the State of Illinois at the point 
where the line between ranges five and six east of the fourth 
principal meridian crosses said boundary-line ; thence, with 
said boundary-line, six miles west, thence twelve miles or 
thereby south, to the southeast corner of section thirteen, 
township twenty-seven north, range four east of the fifth 
principal meridian; thence six miles west, thence three miles 
south, thence sixteen miles or thereby east, to the east bank 
of the Missisippi River, about five miles below the mouth of 
Fever River, and about a mile and a half below the place of 
beginning, already designated, on the western bank of the 
Missisippi.* 

" This lead region is, in general, well watered ; namely, 
by Peccatonnica River, Apple River, Fever River, Platte 
River, Grand River, the head-waters of Blue River, and 
Sugar Creek ; and on the Iowa side by the Little Makoqueta 
and the lower portion of Turkey River : all of these streams 
being tributaries of the Missisippi. 

'' The highest points within this region are the summits of 
the Blue Mounds, two hills of a conical shape, composed of 
chert and other varieties of flint rock, in the northeast portion 
of the tract, and rising to the height of one thousand feet 
above the Wisconsin River. The Platte Mounds, also of 
conical form, and about six hundred feet high, occupy nearly 
the centre of the lead region. 

" These isolated and towering mounds, so conspicuous a 

* " A few fractional townships, originally included in my special reports, 
within the lead region, have been, on re-examination, thrown out, as not 
strictly belonging to the district which is likely to afford productive veins 
of lead ore." 



244 APPENDIX. 

feature in the landscape of Wisconsin, are evidence of the 
denuding action to which, under the crumbUng hand of time, 
the surface of our globe is continually subjected, and which 
the more durable siliceous masses of these hills of flint have 
been enabled partially to resist. 

*' The northern boundary of the Wisconsin lead region is 
nearly coincident with the southern boundary-line of the blue 
limestone where it fairly emerges to the surface. No disco- 
veries of any importance have been made after reaching that 
formation ; and when a mine is sunk through the cliff lime- 
stone to the blue limestone beneath, the lodes of lead shrink 
to insignificance, and no longer return to the miner a profitable 
reward for his labor. Indeed, the small quantities of lead 
ore which have occasionally been found in the blue limestone, 
occur in veins not much thicker than writing-paper, which 
have insinuated themselves into the slender streams of the 
stratification. This coincidence between the northern bound- 
ary of the productive lead region, and that of the cliff limestone, 
is an example of the practical utility and application of the 
geological divisions of the different formations. Even if not 
a single shaft had ever been sunk in Wisconsin, it might have 
been predicted, with probability, that this change in the 
formation would be strictly accompanied with a corresponding 
change in the productiveness of the lead veins. 

" Mr. Carne has observed, regarding the metalliferous veins 
of Cornwall, that it is a rare circumstance when a vein, which 
has been productive in one species of rock, continues rich 
long after it has entered into another ; and this change, he 
adds, is even remarked when the same rock becomes harder 
or softer, more slaty or more compact. Hence it was very 
unlikely that the Wisconsin lead ore, so rich in the cliff lime- 
stone, should retain the same rich character in the blue lime- 
stone, even liad tlie structure of tliis last been equally adapted 



GEOLOGY. 245 

to the bearing of lead. But, in truth, rocks of a schistose 
character, composed of extensible layers, and devoid of 
vertical fissures, like this blue limestone, seldom contain lead 
ore in quantity. Phillips, in his recent geological treatise, 
from vs^hich we have already made several quotations, justly 
remarks : ' It is not because of any peculiar chemical quali- 
ty that limestone yields most lead ore on Aldstone Moor, but 
because of its being a rock which has retained openness of 
fissure. Gritstones, in many mining fields near Aldstone 
Moor, are equally productive ; but shales, as being soft ex- 
tensible layers, have closed up the fissures, and their crumbling 
faces appear to have rejected the crystallizations v^^hich attach- 
ed to the harder limestone, gritstone, and chert.' 

" These remarks apply, with force, to the fissured cliff rock 
of Wisconsin, compared to the softer and more slaty-structured 
blue limestone beneath it. 

" It will also be remarked, that the designated lead region 
is almost exclusively confined to the northern half of the cliff 
limestone formation of Iowa and Wisconsin ; which northern 
half is occupied by its middle and lower beds. The upper 
beds (lying in the southern portion of the district) do not, as 
already intimated, furnish productive veins of lead ore. The 
crevices in these upper beds seem to be less numerous, and 
either empty or filled with iron ore (hydrated brown oxide), or 
calcareous spar (crystallized carbonate of lime), to the almost 
entire exclusion of veins of lead. 

" It follows, from the above observations, that the mines in 
the northern portion of the district are less likely to be pro- 
ductive to a great depth, than those along its southern and 
western boundaries. 

" It follows, also, that, in the southern portion of the dis- 
trict not included by me in the productive lead region, mines 
of value may yet be discovered, by sinking shafts through 



246 APPENDIX. 

the upper beds of the cHff limestone to the lead-bearing beds 
beneath — unless, indeed, these lower beds should prove to be 
beyond the sphere of action where the lead has been pro- 
duced. This latter contingency is possible ; yet the richness 
of the mines in the southern and western portion of the lead 
district (at Apple river and Dubuque, for example), as com- 
pared with some of the northern mines, seems to indicate that 
the ore may still continue rich in the descending beds. Since, 
however, this is, as yet, an unsolved problem ; and even if it 
were solved, as it would require much capital to sink shafts 
to the necessary depth, and since mines of this depth would 
doubtless be inundated with water, and require steam-engines 
to drain them, I have not considered it my duty to include 
this southern portion of the district within the bounds of the 
productive lead region ; although, hereafter, should the easily 
accessible lodes be exhausted, and the demand for lead rapid- 
ly increase, it may become so. 

" With regard to the magnesian limestone which underlies 
the blue limestone and sandstone strata, and comes to the 
surface of the extreme northeastern portion of the district, its 
similarity in structure and composition to the cliff limestone, 
including its disposition to form vertical fissures, and its pro- 
bable identity with the rock formation in the Missouri lead 
region, might induce the expectation that it, also, would be 
rich in lead ore. It may be so ; but the frequent occurrence 
of iron ore (brown oxide) in those townships where this for- 
mation prevails* (as in the upper beds of the southern portion 
of the district), together with the little success which has 
hitherto attended the search after lead ore within its confines, 

* It is not improbable, from its similarity to the lead-bearing rock in 
Missouri, that this lower magnesian limestone, if it be extensive north of 
the Wisconsin river beyond the limits of our survey, may there yield pro- 
ductive veins of lead ore. 



GEOLOGY. 247 

render it doubtful. As this formation occupies but a small 
corner of the district, the examinations were necessarily too 
limited to enable me to pronounce, with confidence, upon its 
lead-bearing character. 

" All the valuable deposits of lead ore which have as yet 
been discovered, occur either in fissures or rents in the cliff 
rock, or else are found imbedded in the recent deposits which 
overlie these rocks. These fissures vary from the thickness 
of a wafer to thirty or even fifty feet in thickness ; and many 
of them extend to a very great, and at present unknown 
depth. 

" The most common diameter of fissures filled with solid 
ore is from one to four inches. 

" In the Apple river diggings, one vein filled up with ore 
was reported to me as being, where then worked, four feet 
across ; but an experienced miner, living close to the Illinois 
line, in one of the richest spots in the district, informed me 
that he had never seen a solid vein continue, for any conside- 
rable distance, of greater thickness than one foot. 

" In the spring of 1828 there was a mass of lead ore found 
in an east-and-west crevice, at the Vinegar-hill diggings, about 
thirty-five feet in length, expanding in the centre to the width 
of six or eight feet, and terminating in a point at each end. 
It was a hollow, and its walls averaged about a foot in thick- 
ness, forming, as it were, a huge' shell of mineral. This ex- 
traordinary natural chamber was cleared out ; a table spread 
within it on the 4th of July ; and a considerable company 
celebrated the national anniversary within its leaden walls, 
about sixty feet below the surface of the earth. 

" The formation of caverns, by the occasional expansion 
of the lead-bearing crevice to a considerable width and height, 
is not uncommon. The ceiling of such a subterranean cham- 
ber is commonly adorned with large, pendant, icicle-like sta- 



248 APPENDIX 

lactites, which conceal from the eye of the spectator the rich 
lead ore which they encrust. 

" Upon the whole, a review of the resources and capabili- 
ties of this lead region, taken in connection with its statis- 
tics (in so far as it was possible to collect these), induces me 
to say, with confidence, that ten thousand miners could find 
profitable employment within its confines. 

" If we suppose each of these to raise daily one hundred 
and fifty pounds of ore, during six months only of each year, 
they would produce annually upwards of one hundred and 
fifty million pounds of lead — more than is now furnished by 
the entire mines of Europe, those of Great Britain included. 

" This estimate, founded (as those who have perused the 
foregoing pages will hardly deny) upon reasonable data, 
presents, in a striking point of view, the intrinsic value and 
commercial importance of the country upon which I am 
reporting ; emphatically, the lead region of Northern Ame- 
rica. 

" It is, so far as my reading and experience extend, decid- 
edly the richest in the known world. 

COPPER ORE. 

" The copper ore of Wisconsin Territory forms an item 
in its mineral wealth, which would be considered of great 
importance, and would attract much attention, but for the 
superior richness and value of the lead, the great staple of 
the Territor}\ 

" This ore occupies, in the district under examination, the 
same geological position as the lead ore. It originates in 
the fissures of the cliiT limestone. It has been spoken of, 
very incorrectly, as ' float mineral ;' as if, like the fragments 
of native copper sometimes found in the diluvium of Western 



GEOLOGY. 249 

America, it had been conveyed to its present situation from a 
distance. This our examinations have disproved. Disco- 
veries of copper ore have indeed been made on a sloping 
hill-side near Mineral Point, w^ithin three or four feet of the 
surface ; and there the ore was found disseminated and im- 
bedded in an ochreous earth.* But on follovi^ing this depo- 
sit to the opposite side of the ravine (on section tvi^enty-two, 
township five, range three east of the fourth principal meri- 
dian), the copper ore was traced into a crevice, and a regular 
vein has there been worked to the depth of thirty or forty 
feet. The pieces of copper ore raised on this spot com- 
monly weighed from a few ounces to ten or twelve pounds ; 
and one mass thence procured was estimated at five hundred 
pounds. 

" The course of this copper vein is from southeast to 
northwest ; and if this line be produced either way, from the 
discoveries at Mineral Point, it will strike, almost exactly, 
the discoveries of copper ore northwest on Blue River, and 
southeast on the Peccatonnica — a proof that the copper ore 
is not a superficial and vagrant deposit, but exists in veins 
of uniform bearing ; and that these veins are continuous, 
and in all probability extensive. 

" It is found in several localities in sufficient abundance 
to repay well the labor of the miner. If there were a steady 
demand for copper ore in the Territory, the miners could 
afford, as I was informed by themselves, to raise copper ore 
at the same price as lead ore — namely, from one and a half 
to two cents per pound. It would be in good demand, and 
be extensively raised, but for the capital and skill necessary 

* "This earth frequently contains particles, more or less numerous, of 
copper ore, and is then popularly termed ' gozzin,' and employed as a flux 
in the copper furnaces. The gozzin of Wisconsin yields, by analysis, from 
six to nine per cent, of pure copper — a large per centage for such ore. 
12* 



250 APPENDIX. 

to reduce it ; which are both far greater than the lead-smelter 
requires ; and, also, but for the scarcity of fuel. The cop- 
per ore of this region compares very favorably with the 
Cornwall copper ores. An analysis of a selected specimen 
of the best working Cornwall ore, and of three average 
specimens of Wisconsin ore, showed that the latter contains 
from a fifteenth to a third more of copper than the former. 

" The Wisconsin ore is of a very uniform quality. There 
was shipped from Ansley's ground, within a mile of Mineral 
Point, in the year 1838, to England, 50,000 pounds of 
ore ; which yielded (according to the statement of one of 
the gentlemen who shipped it) over twenty per cent, of pure 
copper. The average produce in the copper mines of Corn- 
wall may be stated at eight per cent. 

" There have been raised, at the Mineral Point mines, 
upward of a million and a half pounds of copper. At Ans- 
ley's copper furnace, 135,000 pounds of this were smelted ; 
which yielded, ' in a very imperfect smelting furnace,' 12,000 
pounds pure copper, or about nine per cent. Mr. Ansley 
stated that he had not been able to procure a smelter ac- 
quainted with the mode of reducing copper ore ; and it is 
impossible to say what the per centage might have been, had 
the reduction been conducted with skill, and in a well-con- 
structed furnace. 

'* The Wisconsin copper veins may rank among the most 
important that have yet been discovered in tlie limestone 
formation. European copper mines in that geological group 
(as in Staffordshire, England), usually yield very sparingly. 
Cornwall, which is the greatest copper country in the world, 
is composed entirely of crystalline, and the lower stratified 
rocks, chiefly slate, associated with granite and porphyry. 
The celebrated Pary's copper mine, in the island of Angle- 
sea, occurs in a mountahi composed of primary slate. 



GEOLOGY. 251 

" This may seem an argument against the probable pro- 
ductiveness of the Wisconsin copper mines. Yet the forma- 
tions in this western hemisphere are on a scale so extensive, 
compared with those in most parts of Europe (witness a 
single coal field equalling Great Britain in area), that such 
an argument must be received with many qualifications. In 
addition to this, the indications in Wisconsin, as far as they 
have been observed, and the analysis of the ore, afford strong 
presumptive evidence that capital and skill alone are required 
to render copper-mining in this district, at least for some 
time to come, an advantageous and profitable adventure. 

" One of the difficulties which here occurs in reducing the 
ore — namely, the lack of fuel — is common to the richest 
copper countries in Europe. The Cornwall copper ore is 
conveyed partly to Swansea and other portions of Wales, 
and partly to Liverpool, to be smelted in a coal region ; and 
the same vessels which thus convey the less bulky material 
to the more bulky (the ore to the fuel), return laden with 
coal to supply the numerous and powerful steam engines 
required for draining and other purposes at the Cornwall 
mines. And thus, in Wisconsin, if copper ore be raised in 
quantities, it may be necessary to convey it south to the 
margin of the great Illinois coal field — say to the mouth of 
Rock River. This would require a land carriage of from 
ten to thirty miles, and a water carriage'of about 100. The 
Cornwall ore is transported to a greater distance than this. 

" It may be added, as an additional fact whereby to esti- 
mate the value of the Wisconsin copper ore, that, in some 
of the European copper mines, ' this ore does not contain 
above three per cent, of pure copper, and yet it pays for 
working.' Also, that in some of the Cornwall mines, the 
ore is worked profitably at a depth of more than 2000 feet 
* from the grass,' as the phrase there is. 



252 APPENDIX. 



Finally, the Wisconsin copper ore derives additional value 
in consequence of being found in the vicinity of, and often in 
the same mine as, productive veins of 



ZINC ORE. 



" This ore, found both in lovv^a and Wisconsin, usually 
occurs in the fissures, along with the lead. It is chiefly the 
electric calamine — the carbonate of zinc of the mineralogist. 
Though a solid ore, it has an ochreous, earthy aspect, often 
resembling the cellular substance of the bone : hence it is 
familiarly known among the miners by the name of ' dry 
bones.' 

" Notwithstanding its intrinsic value, which will before 
very long be duly appreciated, it is at present an object of 
especial aversion to the miner of Iowa and Wisconsin. It 
frequently happens, in both Territories, that the lead ore in a 
fissure gradually diminishes, and eventually is entirely re- 
placed by this zinc ore ; or, as the disappointed workman, 
sometimes with a hearty curse, not very scientifically ex- 
presses it, ' the dry bone cats out the mineral.' 

" At some of the diggings, large quantities of this carbo- 
nate of zinc can be procured. Thousands of tons are now 
lying in various locations on the surface, rejected as a worth- 
less drug — indeed, as a nuisance. It is known to but a few 
of the miners as a zinc ore at all. An analysis of this ore 
proves it to be a true carbonate of zinc, containing forty-five 
per cent, of the pure metal. 

" Sulphuret of zinc (sometimes called blende, and, by the 
English miner, ' black-jack') is also abundant in the Wiscon- 
sin mines. It contains from fifty-five to sixty-five per cent, 
of zinc, but is more difficult of reduction than the calamine. 

" Sheet zinc is becoming an article of considerable de- 



GEOLOGY. 253 

mand in the market, for culinary purposes, and as a covering 
for valuable buildings, instead of lead. But the chief con- 
sumption of this metal is in making brass, wrell know^n to be 
a compound of copper and zinc. In this process, the carbo- 
nate of zinc, previously calcined, is mixed with charcoal and 
granulated copper, and then exposed to a suitable heat. The 
common brass imported from England contains upwards of 
thirteen per cent, of zinc ; that of Paris, a little less ; and 
the fine brass of Geneva, used in the nicer parts of Avatch- 
making, contains as much as twenty-five per cent, of zinc. 

" Large quantities both of copper and zinc are now imported 
from Europe into the United States, to supply the continually 
increasing demand for brass. It is not improbable that the 
district now under consideration might furnish of both metals 
a sufficient amount, at least for many years to come, to sup- 
ply the entire United States with brass of home produce and 
manufacture. 

•' Of zinc, at least, there is assuredly a sufficient supply, 
not only for that purpose, but also for exportation. All the 
zinc now produced in Great Britain is trifling in quantity, 
and quite insufficient for the demand ; so that a large quan- 
tity is imported annually into that island, chiefly from Ger- 
many and Belgium. The importation of zinc into England, 
in the year 1833, exceeded six millions and a half of pounds — 
a fact which may give us an idea of the importance of this 
metal as an article of commerce. 

Among the productive mineral resources of Iowa and 
Wisconsin, the at present despised zinc ore may claim no 
contemptible rank. 

IRON ORE, 

" The iron ore of this district is of excellent quality, and 
in unlimited abundance. I explored, a few years since, in 



254 APPENDIX. 

company with Professor Troost, geologist of Tennessee, the 
iron mines of that State, which already furnish iron to a con- 
siderable portion of the Western States. And though I have 
seen no proof that iron exists in Iowa and Wisconsin, in 
deposits as extensive as in Tennessee, yet the locations of 
iron ore are numerous, and the quality of the ore, in general, 
is as good. 

" In some of the townships, especially in the ' Missouri 
limestone,' on the Wisconsin river, iron ore was found scat- 
tered in innumerable fragments over the entire surface, and 
of a quality so rich as to be crystallized in much perfection. 
Near the Makoqueta, my sub-agents reported the discovery 
of large masses of iron ore, occurring over a very consider- 
able district of country. The reports and specimens from 
that portion of the district induce me to believe that there 
iron ore can be found, on the surface alone, sufficient to sup- 
ply several iron-furnaces for years to come. 

*' Some of the specimens from these localities are the 
richest and most beautiful variety of pipe-ore I have ever 
seen, exhibiting a miniature resemblance to the basaltic 
columns of Staffa, or the Giant's Causeway. 

" Much of it is the hematite, the purest and most produc- 
tive form of the hydrated brown oxide,* 

" In many of these locations, where iron ore is found in 
abundance, fuel, water-power, and the limestone for flux, are 
at hand. In the northern portion of the district, however, 
the scarcity of fuel presents a serious obstacle to the estab- 
lishment of productive iron-works. 

'* In Dr. Locke's report, under the head * magnetical node,' 
will be found an interesting account of a remarkable magne- 
tical phenomenon, which seems to indicate the presence of 

* These ores of iron yield from 40 to 60 per cent, of the metal. 



GEOLOGY. 255 

some enormous mass of iron, or (if the expression be allow- 
ed) some ' subterraneous iron-mountain,' which may resem- 
ble, except in position, that of Missouri. The locality indi- 
cated is on the Wapsipinecon ; and the axis of this node, as 
Dr Locke's chart shows, is near the line dividing townships 
eighty-two and eighty-three, and about six miles west of the 
fifth principal meridian. 

" The utility of magnetical observations on the dip and 
intensity of the needle, as an indication of the presence of 
iron, and perhaps, also, of great masses of the brown oxide, 
is indisputable ; and I consider myself fortunate in having 
been able to add to the other materials whereby to decide 
the value of the various locations of mineral lands in this 
district, the delicate and varied experiments of Dr. Locke. 

" The variation-chart appended to that gentleman's report 
shows a striking difference in the variation of the needle 
within a very short distance ; and the greatest variation cor- 
responds, in a remarkable manner, with the best locations of 
iron ore of which actual discoveries were made. If from 
this we may conclude that the variation is increased by the 
presence of large masses of ore, the above chart would use- 
fully guide a further examination after the localities of iron 
ore in the district. It must, however, be remembered, that 
it is the protoxide which chiefly acts upon the needle, and 
that the same phenomenon may possibly be caused by com- 
paratively small veins of that variety, as by a large mass of 
the brown oxide. 

" The richness of the iron-veins in this district cannot be 
correctly known until mines shall actually be opened ; which 
has not yet been done in any part of it. But more encourag- 
ing or more numerous surface-indications of an abundant 
supply of this useful metal can hardly offer themselves to 
the notice of the geologist. In a country more thickly set- 



256 APPENDIX. 

tied, and with skill and capital to spare, these would speedily 
cause and justify the employment of whole villages of 
workmen. 

*' To incidental causes alone, and not to any natural defici- 
ency of material, must be attributed the custom of import- 
ing annually from England, into this country, millions of 
dollars worth of iron for railroads and other purposes. Enor- 
mous as is the produce of Great Britain's iron-furnaces 
(amounting, in 1833, to fifteen hundred millions of pounds), 
we might rival it in America. How little here in the west, 
at least, we have hitherto improved our natural resources in 
this branch of commerce, is proved by the thousands of tons 
of rich iron ore which lie, unappropriated and useless, scat- 
tered over the territories of Iowa and Wisconsin. 

" Coal. 

" The great coal-field of Illinois extends its northwestern 
margin over ten or twelve townships of the district, chiefly 
on the western side of the Missisippi. 

" One seam of coal only was discovered cropping out 
west of the Missisippi ; and that was of indiflferent quality, 
lying in the north half of section twenty-seven, township 
seventy-eight, range four east of the fifth principal meridian, 
on Duck creek. Several were found in the tongue of land 
which lies in the fork between Rock River and the Missi- 
sippi : one of them from five to six feet in thickness. The 
quality of this last is fair : and, in proportion as the coal- 
diggings extended, the quality improved. 

*' Several good seams of coal show themselves south of 
the district, within a short distance of its southern boundary ; 
and there is no doubt that any required quantity of this fuel 
may be procured at no great distance from the mouth of 



GEOLOGY. 257 

Rock River, which stream enters the coal-field about 23 
miles above its mouth, and has several good seams exposed 
in the banks. 

" The coal in this vicinity is sure to become valuable, and 
to be in great demand, for the reduction of such ores (espe- 
cially copper ores) as are raised in those portions of the dis- 
trict which are deficient in timber. Some town in this neigh- 
borhood, or a little south, is destined to become the Swansea 
of Wisconsin, and to receive, in its numerous furnaces, the 
rich produce of the prairie mines, from the north and north- 
west. 



*' Throughout the Western States, generally, no produc- 
tive salines are found below the true coal-measures. They 
commonly occur in some of the lower members of the coal 
formation, especially in the white sandstones lying within 
that formation, and at no great distance from its margin. 
Such are the well-known saliferous rocks on the Kenhawa 
and Muskingum. 

" As soon, therefore, as the character and extent of the 
geological formations in the district were ascertained, I 
ceased to expect the discovery of any productive salines, 
except, perhaps, in the extreme southern corner of the tract, 
where the great coal-field of Illinois stretches its lowest mem- 
bers over a few townships. 

'' Every surface-indication confirmed my expectations. 
No salt-springs, not a single salt-lick, no variegated shales, 
not one of the usual indications of salt, were discovered. 
Even in the southern townships, within the coal-formation, 
the thickness of the strata is so inconsiderable that the chance 
is very slender of reaching profitable brine. Salt, therefore, 
cannot be reckoned among the productive minerals of Iowa 



258 APPENDIX. 

and Wisconsin. It may, probably, be ob tamed along the 
head- waters of the western and northeastern tributaries of the 
Illinois River. 

" BUILDING-STONE. 

" 1 was, for a time, in doubt in regard to the value of the 
Wisconsin limestone as a building material. Where it has 
numerous nodules of chert distributed through its mass, it 
weathers unequally, the nodules become detached, and its 
beauty and value as a building-rock are much lessened. 
This occurs chiefly in the superior portion of the upper beds ; 
that is, over the southern portion of the surveyed district. 

*' Much of the limestone that is taken from the diggings 
crumbles, also, on being exposed to the weather ; yet a por- 
tion of the formation will yield some of the best quarries in 
the world, and several excellent ones are already opened. 
For example, on the Sinsinnewa Mound, at Mineral Point, 
at the Four Lakes, and (but not so good) on the Peccaton- 
nica. This excellent building-stone chiefly occurs in the 
lower portion of the upper beds of the cliff limestone, and 
also in the lower beds of the ' Missouri limestone.' It is of 
a beautiful uniform light-yellow color, compact, fine-grained, 
sharp-angled, capable of receiving a handsome finish, and, if 
well selected, calculated to endure, uninjured, for ages. It 
is very readily quarried in square blocks from six inches to 
a foot in thickness ; can be obtained, however, double or 
treble that thickness, and of any required horizontal extent. 
The labor of quarrying is light, in consequence of the rock 
being exposed in cliffs, so as to preclude the necessity of 
excavation. 

" In a recent geological notice from England, it is stated 
that Mr. De la Bdche, in conjunction with Mr. Barry and the 



GEOLOGY. 259 

veteran father of English geology (William Smith), has been 
intrusted by the British government with the care of selecting 
the material of which the new houses of Parliament were to be 
constructed ; and, after a tour made in the course of last year 
for this express purpose, to the points where the best building 
stones were supposed to be quarried, they made choice of the 
magnesian limestone of Yorkshire, remarkable for the dura- 
bility of its color, texture, and sharpest forms, as exemplified 
in the noble old churches of that country. But this magne- 
sian limestone of Yorkshire, thus selected by some of the 
most experienced geologists in the world as the best building 
stone in England, is, as we have already shown, if not the 
equivalent of the cliff limestone of Wisconsin, a rock very 
closely resembling it. The inference is, that some of the 
strata of the cliff limestone of Wisconsin may be expected to 
furnish building materials of a quality the most superior. 

" The canal engineers on Rock River complained much 
that they could find no durable building stone, having quar- 
ried in the white limestone which occurs in the margin of the 
great coal-field. This rock (at that point, at least) is little 
suitable for building purposes. Had these gentlemen 
ascended the Missisippi to the high land above the Mako- 
queta for material, they would have found quarries of the 
building stone above-described, and their locks might have 
bid defiance to the ravages of time. 

" Near Iowa city, and in several other localities along the 
junction of the cliff limestone and the coal-measures, occurs 
a white limestone, which must not be confounded with the 
above. It is capable of receiving a good polish ; and, being 
studded with a beautiful fossil coralline (the stylina of 
Lesueur), forms a pretty variegated marble. One of my 
sub-agents found a settler building his milk-house of this 
showy material, in which the cyathophyllum of Goldfuss was 



260 APPENDIX. 

intermixed with the styhna. Its value as a marble may be 
considerable, should it be obtained in blocks of sufficient size. 
In polishing, however, the organic structure of the coralline 
causes cellular imperfection on its surface. 

" MILLSTONES. 

" In section twenty-two, township eighty-nine, range three 
west of the fifth principal meridian, the United States sur- 
veyors had reported a ' millstone quarry.' There seems, 
however, to have been no better foundation for this report 
than the presence of some granite boulders, very numerous 
on the northern portion of the eastern boundary of the dis- 
trict, and also throughout the western ranges of Iowa. 
These erratic boulders constitute a peculiar feature in the 
prairie scenery, and are often of great size. One was 
reported to me by a sub-agent, somewhat indefinitely, as 
being ' as large as a steamboat.' A smaller one, afterwards 
measured, was eight feet high, and ninety feet in circumfer- 
ence. They are composed of granite, green stone, porphyry, 
and other primitive rocks. 

" Similar boulders, in the State of Illinois, are, in default 
of more suitable materials, sometimes employed to make 
millstones ; but the labor of the manufacture from these 
primitive rocks is very great, and a 'millstone quarry' of 
such a character cannot be considered of value. 

" In the course of a geological reconnoissance of the State 
of Indiana (which, as geologist of that State, I had, two 
years since, occasion to make), I found good millstone quar- 
ries in a rock formation which is the equivalent of that of 
Wisconsin, and I hoped to make similar discoveries in the 
course of this survey ; but I have seen no rock, either in 
Iowa or Wisconsin, which combines hardness and porosity 
enough to render it suitable for this useful purpose. 



GEOLOGY. 261 

OTHER MINERALS. 

" No minerals of much value, except those described in 
the preceding sections, were detected in the district. 

*' Chalcedony, agate, jasper, and cornelian, were found, but 
not in great perfection. 

*' On the southwest quarter of section seventeen, township 
eighty-four, range five east of the fifth principal meridian, in 
the Mineral Point and Blue River lead-mines, besides several 
other localities, was found a white rock, which, by disinte- 
gration, forms a white plastic material used in the manufac- 
ture of porcelain : it is a hydrate of silica, containing a small 
per centage of alumina, and is similar to that substance which 
forms what are misnamed the ' chalk banks,' below Cape 
Girardeau, Missouri. If obtained in sufificient quantities, it 
would be of value in the manufacture of porcelain ; but I 
failed to discover any extensive or continuous stratum of this 
mineral. It has too large a per centage of silex, and too 
little alumina, to rank as a true kaolin. 

" No appreciable quantity of silver was discovered in any 
of the ores of lead subjected to analysis ; neither was any 
sulphuret of silver (as it occurs in the lead mines of the 
Hartz) found in this district.* 

" In one or two specimens of galena, vestiges of arsenic 
were detected. 

" Little or no antimony is found in combination with the 
lead ore of this district ; a circumstance which increases the 
value of the ore, for lead ore contaminated with antimony is 
of difficult reduction. 

" At McKnight's diggings, at Mineral Point, there occurs 
along with the galena the ' black lead ore ' of the mineralo- 

* Ores of silver are rarely, if ever, found in this geological formation. 



262 APPENDIX. 

gist, which is the carbonate of lead with a small admixture 
of sulphuret of lead. 

" Crystals of the sulphato-tri-carbonate of lead have been 
obtained from some of the diggings in Wisconsin. 

" Manganese, a metallic oxide, useful in various manufac- 
tures, was found (but not in a pure form, nor in very large 
quantities) among the earthy materials in the fissures of the 
cliff limestone. 

'* In some of the richest lead mines, very fine specimens 
of crystallized iron pyrites are associated with the sulphuret 
of lead — some of it (capillary pyrites) brilliant and delicate 
beyond any I had ever before seen. It is composed of fasces 
or clusters of silk-like threads, of a pale golden-yellow color, 
which may be readily separated with the point of a knife. 

SOILS. 

" An item in my instructions required me to report * such 
facts as will serve to convey some idea of the value and pro- 
ductiveness ' of the district under consideration. 

" In obedience to this instruction, I have analyzed, with 
care, the soils of Iowa and Wisconsin ; and the result of this 
analysis, extended to fifteen different specimens selected from 
the various parts of the district, is truly remarkable. 

" It is a common, and usually a correct remark, that 
mineral regions are barren and unproductive. ' If a stranger,' 
as Buckland has well expressed it in the opening to his 
Bridgewater Treatise, ' if a stranger, landing at the extremity 
of England, were to traverse the whole of Cornwall and the 
north of Devonshire, and, crossing to St. David's, should 
make the tour of all North Wales, and passing thence 
through Cumberland, by the Isle of Man, to the southwestern 
shore of Scotland, should proceed, either by the hilly region 



GEOLOGY. 263 

of the border counties, or along the Grampians, to the Ger- 
man ocean, he would conclude, from such a journey of many 
hundred miles, that Britain was a thinly-peopled, steril 
region, whose principal inhabitants were miners and moun- 
taineers.' 

" Not so the traveller through the mining districts of 
Western America. These afford promise of liberal reward, 
no less to the husbandman than to the miner ; and a chemical 
examination of the soils gives assurance that the promise 
will be amply fulfilled. 

" The mode of analysis adopted was, in its general fea- 
tures, the same which has been recommended by Dr. Dana, 
of Lowell, and adopted by the geologist of Massachusetts. 
I have carried it out, however, in regard to the salts found in 
the most interesting specimens, into more minute detail than 
that simple and practical, rather than rigidly accurate, mode 
of analysis presupposes. 

" The following table, with the appended notes, exhibits, 
with sufficient accuracy for practical purposes, the propor- 
tions of organic and of earthy matter, the per centage of 
saline ingredients, and the specific gravity of each specimen 
of soil. The specimens were selected from the different 
formations — chiefly, of course, from the cliff limestone ; they 
were taken from about six inches below the surface, and, 
with a single exception (No. 13), from wild lands. They 
may be considered a fair average of the virgin soils of the 
district. 



264 



APPENDIX. 



IS 



^ 



•XjiabjS ogpadg 


1.30 

2.32 
1.44 
1.80 
1.68 

1.24 

1.64 

1.G6 
1.92 

2.82 


•oinnpisaj snoaoqig 


75.0 

93.0 
80.0 
84.0 
82.0 

60.0 

83.0 

79.0 
83.0 

95.0 


•uinnpisai snouiuiniy 


p pppp p p oo © 
O rtOOO o o o© o 


© 

Si 
®.H 

1.2 

O 3 
M G 

05 

X 

W 


1.0 chiefly oxide of iron. 

0.8 
1.0 
0.7 
0.5 

1.5 

1.0 

1.0 

1.5 cliiefly oxide of iron ; 
no phosphoric acid 
could be detected. 

0.5 


1 

» 

3 
02 


3.0 prot and per-oxide of 
iron, lime, and mag- 
nesia. 

0.9 lime, and a trace of 
magnesia. 

2.0 

2. 1.5 muriate of lime, 

a trace of magnesia. 

3. 1.5 oxide of iron, a 

little lime and mag- 
nesia. 
4.5—0.5 oxide of iron, 2.0 
lime, 0.3 magnesia. 

2. oxide of iron, lime, 
and magnesia. 

2. 1.5 muriate of lime. 

1.8 

1.5 oxide of iron, a trace 
of lime and magne- 
sia. 


•ilBJ([B ui aiq 
-iipsui jauBui otubSiq 


6.0 

0.3 
6.0 
5.0 
5.0 

15.0 

5.0 

6.0 

7.2 

0.5 


•qB3j[B ui a|q 
-nps jajjBUi oiubSjq 


6.0 

3.0 
5.5 
5.0 
6.5 

11.0 

5.5 

7.5 
2.0 

0.5 


•SurjfBq Aq ssoq; 


to o -^ oi n t^ CO co'^ i-H 


i 

o 

■J 


Wisconsin soils. 
Prairie valley soil from east iialf of township 5 
north, range 6 east of the 4th principal meridian. 

Section 34, township 4 north, range 4 east of the 4th 

principal meridian. 
Northwest quarter of section 15, township 5 north, 

range 1 west of the 4th principal meridian. 
Northeast quarter of section 7, township 2 north, 

range 1 east of the 4th principal meridian. 
Township 22 north, range 6 east of the 4th principal 

meridian. "* 

Rich valley soil on Platte River, from section 33, 
townsliip 4 north, range 2 west of the 4th princi- 
pal meridian. 

Soil from one of the townships richest in lead ore, 
viz : township 1 north, range 1 cast of the 4th 
principal meridian. 

Section 22, township 7 north, range 4 west of the 
4th principal meridian. 

Northeast quarter of section 8, township 6 north, 
range 3 west of the 4th principal meridian. 

Section 8, township 6 north, range 8 east of the 4th 
principal meridian. 


1 


— oco'^fifl to r^ ODOJ o 



GEOLOGY. 



265 



•iCliA'BjS ogpadg 



•uinnpisaj snoooins 



•umnpisaj siiouiuiniy 



T3 
S3 

a 
o 
o 



S 






S o 



© i-( 



ti o 


bX: C 


^§ 




CO 


rt 




C O 


£^ 




--a 


cS •-• 




38 






i 


00 




oj-^ 


3 



•- .2" • •- .s' 



sfS. 



^ i 



-3 ' c ^ 

C o) p ^« q3 

— o 



<^Q 



SS 



t; 2 
o C 
c - 

00 2 
w e 

c a 
o ce 



"5 



2 

o 

E 
o 

S 
o 



CO 
IB 

c 



S 
P 

^ >^ O) ij 









5 c 2 g 

O fa< 



.S 

a, 



si's 
ill 

iai . 

Q^ I— ( ^ 

» O r- S 
M^M S 

0) > g g 



-niosui jajjBni ouingjo 








q 


q 


Irt 


00 


•IIUJIJB Ul 

aiqnjos aaijvjwi oiuijgjo 


4.5 








CO 


© 

CO 


© 

CO 


00 


•guiiiiiq Xq ssoq 




crj 


CO 


CO 
CO 


CO 


LO 


q 

CO 



*C *c_) •^. "^ 



O) 



'2 25 5 



c .3 



o ^ O w 

'° ^ '^ .« 
o « c« — 
•g > s -3 
o '5 '.3 to 

rr C r- 

0-- c S 

•a o 
_ "^ "? 



o 



V 



w 5-= cd 

&.S-2 '^ 

O S S 
^- tD S — 

C > ;j S 
»2 c^o 



o 



« ? c 
^ S'SS 

•5 "S .a s 

«" » c a, 

V. o ? fl 



" ■5"5 

".< .t- r CO 
■S y' "' "~ 



"c -3 'o » 



13 



C o C " 

■2 « C S 

S ° S =* S 

2^-5 §-« 

S ' 03 .i: r^ 
;= s .2 

ed'a J--" C 
»j o .- ® w 
» , i:d » '^ 

-« o ■= S i2 
I 2 £0:3 
^ c ■« . .S 

o O *5 to c3 

<S >--a to c 
ed a g O 



266 APPENDIX. 

" To a correct appreciation of the results obtained from the 
above table, it may be remarked, that the organic matter of 
the soil (sometimes called geine) — ^the food of plants — the 
substance, which, by the action of air and water, has been 
prepared, or is in course of preparation, to enter into the 
circulation of the plant, — is that portion of the soil which 
chiefly communicates to it its prolific qualities ; and that, all 
other things being equal, a soil may be expected to be pro- 
ductive, in proportion to the amount of organic matter it 
contains.* 

" This organic matter is in part soluble, and in part inso- 
luble, in alkali. The soluble portion of it is supposed, with 
much plausibility, to be that which is already prepared to 
become nutriment for plants ; the insoluble portion is 
regarded as that which, by the action of air and moisture, 
and other influences, will hereafter become so. 

" If this theory be an accurate one, it follows that those 
soils which contain a large proportion of soluble organic 
matter will be fertile for the time ; but that they must also 
contain a good supply of insoluble geine to preserve their 
fertility. And thus the column of soluble organic matter in 
the table is that which measures the present productiveness, 
and that of insoluble organic matter that which indicates the 
durability of the soil. 

" The salts which enter into the composition of a soil are 
considered by agricultural chemists as its stimulating ingre- 
dient. Chaptal, in his ' Chemistry applied to Agriculture,' 
says (a little fancifully, perhaps), ' The salts are to plants, 
what spices and marine salts are to man.'t It is certain that 

'* * An exception to this rule, which should not be overlooked, exists in 
the case of bog or peat soils ; which, however, possess in general but little 
soluble organic matter." 

" t Dr. Dana improves on this idea. He says : * The earths are the 
plates, the salts the seasoning, and the geine the food of plants.' " 



GEOLOGY. 267 

the salts in any soil exert upon the organic matter a chemical 
action, and contribute to regulate and facilitate the process 
of nutrition. Without an adequate supply of saline material, 
then, a soil lacks one of the essential ingredients of 
fecundity. 

" To form an estimate, from the above table, of the quality 
of the Wisconsin soils, it is necessary to compare its results 
with similar results obtained in countries in which, by actual 
culture, the A^alue of the soil has, to some extent, been 
proved. The difficulty here is, that such analyses of soils 
have very rarely been made or recorded. Professor Hitch- 
cock, in his Report, of the year 1838, on the Economical 
Geology of Massachusetts, furnishes a valuable table of this 
kind, exhibiting the analyses of one hundred and twenty -five 
specimens, which, as he informs us, may be considered as 
about the average quality of the soils of that State. He 
adds : ' As this is probably the first attempt that has been 
made to obtain the amount of geine in any considerable 
number of soils, we cannot compare the results with those 
obtained in other places. They will be convenient, however, 
for comparison with future analyses.' 

'' And they do accordingly famish data for a comparison, 
both interesting and important, between the soil of Massa- 
chusetts and that of Wisconsin. 

" The following are the results obtained from Professor 
Hitchcock's table : 

Average quantity of soluble geine (organic 

matter) 3.90 per cent. 

Average quantity of insoluble geine (organic 

matter) 3.70 per cent. 

Average specific gravity of soil - - - 2.44 " 



268 APPENDIX. 

" My own table, as will have been remarked, shows the 
results for the soils of Iowa and Wisconsin to be — 

Average quantity of soluble organic matter - 4.80 per cent. 
Average quantity of insoluble organic matter 5.13 " 
Average specific gravity of soil - - - 1.84 " 

'' The first result w^hich strikes the eye is the large amount 
of organic matter in the Iowa and Wisconsin soils, compared 
with those of Massachusetts — nearly one-third greater. 

" The second is the great specific gravity of the Massa- 
chusetts soil, compared with those of Iowa and Wisconsin — 
nearly one-third greater. 

" A more careful inspection shows that the amount of 
organic matter is, almost to mathematical accuracy, in the 
inverse ratio of the specific gravity of the soils. 

*' It would be a hasty inference thence to deduce the con- 
clusion that soils are rich in geine, in proportion to their 
specific lightness ; yet the coincidence, in this respect, is 
marked and worthy of attention. 

" If further analysis of soils in various portions of this and 
other countries should exhibit similar results, it would appear 
that a simple trial of the specific gravity of a soil may, in a 
general way, furnish an approximating test of its fertility. 

" Be this as it may, the dark mould which prevails over a 
large proportion of Iowa and Wisconsin, so rich in geine, 
and of so small specific gravity, has proved itself, wherever 
the farmer has trusted to its certain returns, instead of attempt- 
ing the more hazardous venture of the mine, an excellent and 
productive soil ; especially adapted to the culture of every 
species of culinary vegetables and small grain, and produc- 
ing, probably, as good Indian corn as the State of New York, 
or any other State of the same latitude. 

" It will be observed, from the table, that the power of 



GEOLOGY. 269 

absorption is generally in proportion to the amount of geine 
and the lightness of the soil.* 

" This is an important item to the cultivator. Lands pos- 
sessing this power in a considerable degree readily absorb 
the dew in dry weather ; and, in wet weather, do not suffer 
the superfluous rain to accumulate on the surface. 

" A striking feature in the character of the Iowa and Wis- 
consin soils, as the table shows, is the entire absence, in 
most of the specimens, of clay, and the large proportion of 
silex. This silex, however, does not commonly show itself 
here in its usual form — that of a quartzose sand. It appears 
as a fine, almost impalpable, siliceous powder, frequently 
occurring in concreted lumps that resemble clay ; and, 
indeed, it was often reported to me incorrectly as clay — an 
error ultimately detected by analysis. 

" This almost impalpable powder, the chief constituent and 
almost sole residuum of the Iowa and Wisconsin soils, is so 
highly comminuted, that, when examined under the micro- 
scope, for the most part, its atoms present no crystalline or 
even granular appearance. 

" This fine siliceous residuum, after being boiled with 
strong aqua regia, lost but 10 per cent. ; of which but 5 per 
cent, was alumina. 

" This absence of any material per-centage of clay in the 
soils under consideration prevents the rolling lands from 
washing away ; and it imparts to the streams a crystal clear- 
ness, which even after heavy rains is hardly disturbed. The 
appearance of these transparent rivulets flowing over a soil, 

" * ' In general, the more finely the parts of a soil are divided, the better 
they absorb water.' — Chaptal. 

" This applies particularly, as the sequel will show, to the soils in 
question." 



270 APPENDIX. 

which when moistened by rain is often of an inky blackness, 
arrests, by its singularity, the eye of a stranger. 

" Whether the lack of clay in the Iowa and Wisconsin 
soils will render them less durable, may be doubted. A 
coarse sandy soil, the open pores of which suffer the rain to 
percolate, carrying with it the nutritive geine from the surface, 
requires an admixture of clay before it can become rich and 
durable ; but the minute grained siliceous powder of this dis- 
trict forms a species of soil entirely diiferent from the above 
— one which, without any such admixture, retains moisture 
and geine in much perfection. 

" I believe it to be peculiarly adapted to the growth of the 
sugar beet, which flourishes best in a loose fertile mould, and 
which has of late become, in some European countries, an 
important article of commerce. It is estimated that the 
amount of beet sugar manufactured in France during the last 
year was 100,000,000 pounds, and in Prussia and Germany 
30,000,000 pounds. In the western part of Michigan, in as 
northern a latitude, and in a climate similar to that of Wiscon- 
sin, 240,000 pounds are reported by the papers of that state 
(how accurately I know not) to have been manufactured du- 
ring last season. 

" In concluding this brief notice of the soils of this district, 
which I regret that time does not permit me to extend, I may 
add, that I know of no country in the world, with similar 
mineral resources, which can lay claim to a soil as fertile and 
as well adapted to the essential purposes of agriculture." 



(B.) 



Extract from Mr. Owen's Report to Congress, 



"earthwork antiquities in WISCONSIN TERRITORY. 



*' I present this subject, not as a discovery, but merely to 
add such evidence to the discoveries and pubhcations of others 
as seem, from the doubts I have heard so repeatedly expressed, 
to be necessary to convince the majority of readers of their 
correctness. In the 34th volume of ' Silliman's Journal,' is 
a communication from Richard C. Taylor, Esq., on the sub- 
ject of these idenical works, in which he describes them as 
being ' in the form of animal effigies.' The figures given by 
Mr. Taylor are so unlike any ancient tumuli in other parts of 
the country, that I had, ever since noticing them, felt a strong 
desire to examine the originals. On entering Wisconsin, I 
was so engaged in other pursuits, that I had forgotten the 
' effigies,' until, upon examining the ' sandstone bluff's,' eight 
miles east of the Blue Mounds, I literally stumbled over one 
of them, overgrown with the rank prairie grass. I was at 
once convinced of the correctness of Mr. Taylor's representa- 
tions, and not a little astonished that some well-informed per- 



272 APPENDIX. 

sons there, in the midst of these strange groups, should still 
pretend to dispute their artificial origin. The same ambition 
to exercise an independent judgment might lead the same 
individuals to dispute that the ruins of Herculaneum are arti- 
ficial ; the same argimient might be used — ' that they just 
come so in the earth.' Without going into any discussion in 
regard to the origin, history, or design of these figures, I 
shall merely represent their form and dimensions with as much 
accuracy as a very particular survey of a few of them ena- 
bled me to attain. I shall not even pretend to say that they 
are like animals ; for this the reader can determine for him- 
self. I have not attempted, in any degree, to represent them 
as they might once have been, but exactly as I found them on 
the day that I surveyed them. 

" The method pursued in making the surveys is represent- 
ed in plate No. 1, Antiquities. Here, for convenience, I make 
use of the names of the parts of an animal. The figure deli- 
neated is the foremost one of the two, between which the road 
passes, and which are on the verge of a small prairie, about 
ten miles east of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. Small 
stakes were set in the following points, viz : the eye, the fore 
foot, the shoulder, the hip, the hind foot, and the end of the 
tail. The angular positions of these and other points were 
determined by measuring, with a tape measure, the sides of 
the several 'triangles which those points form, in such a man- 
ner that the determined side of one triangle shall be the base 
of a new one. After the determination of all the triangles, 
their several diameters and distances were measured and 
noted ; and, finally, to determine the bearing of the whole 
figure, the magnetical bearing of the line from the hip to the 
shoulder was registered on the field-book. 

The following is a copy from the field-notes, in reference 
to the above figures : 



MONUMENTS. 



273 



Triangles. 

Eye to shoulder, - - - - 

Shoulder to foot, - - . - 

Fore foot to eye, - - - - 

Eye to nose, _ _ _ » 

Nose to shoulder, - - - - 

Eye to point half way between the ears, 

Shoulder to same point 

Shoulder to hip 

Fore foot to hip 

Shoulder to hind foot 

Hind foot to hip 

Hip to the tip of the tail 

Hind foot to the tip of the tail 



" Diameters. 



Of the neck 
Of the fore leg 
Of the body 
Of the hind leg 
Of the tail - 



" Distances. 



From the eye to the front 

From one ear to the other 

From shoulder to armpit 

From shoulder to back 

From hip to rump 

From hip to flank 

From hip to insertion of the tail 

Length of the throat 
13* 



Feet. 


Inches. 


23 





29 


4 


37 


8 


20 


4 


35 


10 


11 





24 


10 


38 


4 


57 





47 


8 


28 


10 


38 





41 


6 


Feet. 


Inches 


13 





11 





14 


7 


9 


9 


8 





Feet. 


Inches. 


7 


6 


14 





9 


9 


8 


4 


7 





9 


7 


7 


6 



12 



274 APPENDIX. 

" Observations. — Ears distinctly separated. Two trees, 
sixteen inches in diameter, growing in the nose. Ground 
sloping gently towards the feet. Both the fore and hind 
legs curved a little backwards. The tail a little hollowed on 
the upper side. Height, or relief of the figure above the 
natural surface, about three feet ; and the back somewhat 
steeper than the belly. Bearing of hip to shoulder N. 38^ 
W. 

" It will be seen, by examining the above notes, that they 
determine twenty-five points in the circumference of the 
figure ; and that the connecting of these points by lines, and 
thus completing the outline, permits no exercise of imagina- 
tion. The figure from the earth is simply transferred to the 
paper, on a scale of the one hundred and twentieth part, in 
linear dimensions. Seven other figures were surveyed with 
the same degree of particularity, and the distances between 
them and the relative positions of the same group accurately 
noted. 

" The ' military road' from Prairie du Chien to the Four 
Lakes, after crossing the Wisconsin River, and ascending a 
small tributary, occupies the height or dividing ridge between 
the waters of the Wisconsin on one side, and those of Rock 
River and some smaller streams on the other, for the distance 
of eighty or one hundred miles, occasionally descending into 
a moderate valley, and crossing a small rivulet, a head branch 
of some of the incipient streams. Most of the route is on a 
high open prairie. From the Blue Mounds eastward to the 
Four Lakes, the country abounds with the earthwork antiqui- 
ties, of the origin of whicli the present aborigines are as 
ignorant as ourselves. About seven or eight miles eastward 
from the Blue Mounds, the road descends into the valley of 
a head branch of Sugar River, a tributary of Rock River ; 



MONUMENTS. 275 

and here, near a bluff of sandstone, of a very picturesque 
and fantastic outline, commence our particular descriptions. 

'' There is a group of works about eight miles east of the 
Blue Mounds. It is on the great road from Prairie du 
Chien, through Madison, to Lake Michigan — a road so 
decidedly marked by nature, that I presume it has been the 
thoroughfare, the ' trail,' the great ' war-path,' ever since the 
region in the vicinity has been inhabited by migrating man, 
and will continue to be his pathway until the hills and the 
rivers exchange their places. The sand-bluff surmounted 
with pines is here a picturesque object ; and the streamlet 
and springs not very distant, with a few scattering trees for 
fire, have long made it a camping ground. Mr. Taylor has 
represented only one of the two 'effigies' which occur at 
this point ; the other was probably so overgrown with grass 
and small hazel-bushes as to escape his observation. Our 
encampment was near this place ; and in the midst of some 
discussion with regard to the tumuli, they were opened to 
see whether they were stratified, and whether the black 
mould continued underneath them, even with the surrounding 
surface. No. 2 was composed of sand, without any change 
to mark an original surface below, although it is now over- 
grown with grass, and is covered with a thin black mould. 
The whole of this descent, near the bottom of which the 
figure lies, has evidently been formed by the disintegration 
of the soft incoherent sandstone bluff contiguous ; and at the 
time of forming this tumulus, it was very probably destitute 
of loam at this point, as it now is at a point still nearer the 
bluff. A section of the embankment near the gap exhibited 
a thin line of this loam, even with what might be supposed 
to have been the original surface of the groiaid. Alluvial 
stratification is positive proof that a formation is not artifi- 
cial ; but the absence of a base of mould is not positive 



276 APPENDIX. 

proof of the same thing ; for the constructors may have 
removed the surface on commencing their work. Many of 
our tumuH have not only a base of mould marking an origi- 
nal surface, but ashes, coals, bones, and artificial implements 
deposited at the bases of tumuli, of various forms and 
heights, from two to seventy feet. 

" In examining the tumuli of Wisconsin, I djid not at any 
place discover a ditch or cavity from which the earth to con- 
struct them had been taken. They abound along the natural 
road, occupying the fertile and commanding hill-tops, and 
the gentle slopes into the valleys ; being uniformly raised 
from a smooth and well-formed surface, always above inun- 
dation, and well guarded from the little temporary currents 
produced by showers. 

" The backs of the ' effigies ' were unifomily placed up- 
hill, and the feet downward, as at the sand-bluff. There are 
some points on the surface of soft ground where we naturally 
expect chasms, rugre, mammillary points, and undulations. 
These occur from the uprooting of trees, from avalanches, 
from the settling of banks, from the action of temporary 
streams and currents of water. Mammillary points are 
often left along the sharp crest of a hill, and insular mounds 
are not unfrequently left in low alluvial bottoms — certain 
points of upland having withstood that action of the cuiTcnts 
which has carried away and degi*aded the surface to a lower 
level. But there are other situations where we expect to 
find, and do actually find, the surface evenly graded into 
smooth undulations, as on the dividing tables between the 
heads of streams, and in the tops of moderate hills, where 
no current has room to accumulate ; and especially if the 
same region be prairie, with the surface protected by the 
strong roots of wild grasses. 

"Just such a situation is this part of Wisconsin where the 



MONUMENTS. 277 

geologist suddenly and unexpectedly meets with these groups 
of gigantic basso-relievos, which appear to him as decidedly 
artificial as the head of Julius Caesar on an ancient coin, not- 
withstanding anything which may be imagined or said to the 
contrar}^ 

[Another] " figure is about one mile and a half from the 
bluff above described. It appears to be solitary ; lies on a 
low, level, smooth ground, and seems to have been muti- 
lated ; the parts which I have called the legs seem to have 
been partially washed away. If intended to represent an 
animal, the head is evidently too large, and the attitude very 
stiff and rectangular. But I have drawn it as I found it, 
without any inclination to make it more like an animal than 
it was made in the original design, with all the defacements 
which several hundred years have imprinted. The distance 
from this third figure to the next group is diminished on the 
plate. It is really one-fourth to one-third of a mile, where, 
on our progress towards Madison, we approach the termina- 
tion of the valley in which our figures, so far, have been 
sketched. Here, upon the side of a hill sloping gently to- 
ward the road, are three figures, and an embankment ; the 
sizes, distances, and relative positions of which have all 
been drawn to a uniform scale of forty feet to the inch. 

" Leaving the group last described, and proceeding still 
eastwardly towards the Four lakes, w^e ascend a ridge, and 
pass out of the valley containing the six figures [above des- 
cribed]. The road for about two miles lies over broken, 
thinly-timbered ridges ; beyond which it crosses a small 
prairie, and again enters woodland. Just at the entrance of 
this woodland are two [other] figures. The pathway passes, 
with scanty space, between the nose of the one and the tail 
of the other. These are the most perfect, if we consider 
them as ' effigies' of animals, of any of the figures here re- 



278 APPENDIX. 

presented, and are singularly alike in their form and dimen- 
sions. A short distance (500 or 600 feet) to the west of 
them is a natural swell of ground, with an artificial tumu- 
lus on the top of it, overlooking the two figures. 

" If these figures were originally intended to represent 
animals, they might have been much more distinct and speci- 
fic than they now are. It is obvious that any minute deline- 
ations must soon be obliterated by the agency of the weather. 
Most of them have the upper part of the head, the ears, or 
antlers, apparently too large — at least it appears so in the 
drawings. But this part, in the originals, is not raised from 
the ground so high as the other parts, and appears like 
several small parts trodden down and blended together. In 
the eighth figure, especially, there is a decided notch or 
separation still remaining between the two horns or ears. 
They are the favorite resort of badgers, which, finding them 
raised and dry, have selected them for burrowing ; and it is 
wonderful that they retain their outlines so perfectly. But, 
above all other creatures civilized man will obliterate them 
the most speedily ; and it is mucli to be regretted that the 
multitude of extraordinary figures raised like embossed 
ornaments over the whole of this part of the country, could 
not be accurately measured and delineated before they shall 
be obliterated for ever. The reader will please to observe 
thai these observations were made, as it were, by stealth. I 
had other duties to perform, and was enabled to take these 
measurements by an enthusiasm which awoke me in my tent 
at midnight, assisted me to prepare my breakfast before day, 
and sent me into the cold bleak fields on a November morn- 
ing, to finish the admeasurements of a whole group of figures 
before the usual time of commencing the labors of the day. 
I had no time to turn aside to examine still other groups, 
evidently more extensive and interesting than those which 



MONUMENTS. 279 

we have endeavored to represent. Mr. Taylor has repre- 
sented the effigies of birds, and one of the human figure, as 
occurring here ; and I am happy, with a full conviction of 
the general accuracy of his representations, to call the 
reader's attention to his interesting paper. 

" On one of the hills I saw an embankment exactly in the 
form of the cross, as it is usually represented as the emblem 
of Christianity. Some of the surveyors brought in sketches 
of works in the form of birds with wings expanded ; and I 
heard of others in the form of lizards and tortoises. From 
what I have seen, I should think it very probable that these 
forms are to be found. But, in order that their existence 
should excite in the public that interest which, as relics of 
ancient history, they really possess, they should be so ex- 
actly surveyed and depicted that their representations can be 
relied upon with confidence. I object to the very careless 
and imperfect manner in which most of our antiquities have 
been examined, by which they have been rather guessed at 
than surveyed. Although I have given a pledge not to 
undertake to make animals of these figures, yet, to the eyes 
of all, except very sagacious people, they will look very like 
animals ; and the question will arise, what kinds of animals 
were intended to be represented ? In the originals, the size 
is so great, and the outline more or less obscured by herbage 
and undershrubs, that the impression of an effigy is much 
less decided than when the same is diminished and brought 
into one point of view, in which all the parts are under the 
eye at once. A comparison of the difference of expression, 
form, and attitude, does not strike one at all in the originals, 
while it is very decided in the diminished copies. Mr. Tay- 
lor suggests that those were intended to represent the buffalo, 
though he acknowledges the representation to be imperfect, 
especially in wanting the ' hump.' It appears to me that the 



280 APPENDIX. 

figures 1, 2, 3, and 6, might have been intended as effigies 
of the bear ; the clumsy proportions, and want of the caudal 
appendage, appear hke that animal. Figures 5, 7, and 8, 
have decidedly an expression of agility and fleetness. They 
may have been intended for the conger, or American tiger — 
an animal still existing in that region. Tlie only general 
disproportion to that animal is the length of the head." 



(C) 



CATALOGUE OF SOME OF THE PLANTS OF THE UPPER MISSISIPPI 

[Mr. Geyer^s List, with Additions.] 



Platanus, 

Catalpa. 

Several species of Anemone. 

Aquuligia, 

Delphinium, 

Thalictrum, 

Menispermum, 

Nymphasa, 

Sanguinaria, 

Nasturtiums, several species. 

Arabis, 

Cardamine, 

Dentaria, 

Erysimum, 

Drab a, 

Lepidium, 

Cleome. 

Poly gala, 

Violet, several varieties. 

Grass of Parnassus. 



Sycamore. 



Columbine. 
Larkspur. 
Meadow Rue. 
Moonseed. 
Water Lily. 
Bloodwort. 

Wall-cress. 

Ladies' Smock. 

Toothwort. 

Winter cress, hedge mustard. 

Whitlow grass. 

Cress. 

Milkwort, 3 species. 



282 



APPENDIX. 



Hypericum, 

Arenaria, 

Stellaria, 

Spergula, 

Linum, 

Geranium maculatum, 

Oxalis, 

Celastrus, 

Euonymus, 

Rhamnus, 



Ceanothus, 

Vicia, 

Lathyrus, 

Phaseolus, 

Glycyrrhiza, 

Psoralia, 



Amorpha. 

Pelalostemon 

Dalea. 

Astragalus, 

Bastard Vetch. 

Lupinus, 

Cercis, 

Potentilla, 



St. Johnswort. 

Sandwort. 

Stitcliwort. 

Spurry. 

Flax. 

Cranes' bill. 

Wood sorre] 

Grape. 

Staff tree. 

Spindletree. 

Buckthorn . A variety of this 
genus is used for tea among 
the Chinese poor. 

Red root, New Jersey tea. 

Vetch. 

Vetchling, everlasting pea. 

Kidney bean. 

Liquorice root. 

There are several species, 
viz., esculenta, argophylla, 
cuspidata, lanceolata, — 
called by the Canadians 
pomme de prairie, pomme 
blanche, and pomme de 
terre. 



Milk vetch, many varieties. 

Lupin. 

Redbud. 

Cinquefoil. 



PLANTS. 



283 



Strawberry, 

Rosa, 

Crataegus, 

Epilobium, 

CEnothera,. 



Circaea, 

Myriophyllum, 

Hippuris, 

Ribes, Ribesia and Grossularia, 

Hydrangea. 

Sium, 

Aralia, 

Cornus, 

Galium, 

Aster, 

Erigeron, 

Solidago, 

Ambrosia, 

Xanthium, 

Helianthus, 

Helenium, 

Achillea, 

Senecio, 

Artemisia, 

Sonchus, 

Lactuca, 



Phellandrium Aquaticum, 



Fragaria. 

Rose, blanda and lucida. 

Hawthorn. 

Willow herb. 

Tree primrose, many var., — 
serrulata, caespitosa, albi- 
caulis, pinnatifida, biennis. 

Enchanter's nightshade. 

Water millfoil. 

Mare's tail. 

Currant and gooseberry. 

Water parsnip. 

Spikenard. 

Dogwood. 

Bedstraw — allied to madder. 

Starwort, 10 var. 

Fleabane, 6 var. 

Golden rod, 8 var. 

Bitterweed. 

Clot burr. 

Sunflower. 

Sneezewort. 

Millfoil. 

Ragwort, 4 var. 

Wormwood, 7 var. 

Sow thistle. 

Lettuce, a new species not in 

Herbarium ; arid banks of 

a lake formed by James' 

River. 
Fine leaved water hemlock, 

an active medicine, delete- 



284 



APPENDIX. 



Leontodon, 

Mentha Viridis, 
" Pulegium, 
" Piperita, 

Wahu, 

Cornus sericea, 



Eupatorium perfoliatum, 
Ranunculus bulbosus, 

" Aquatilis. 

" Cymbalaria. 

" Sceleratus. 

" Repens. 

" Abortivus. 

Vitis riparia, 
Hieracium, 
Bear grape. 
Vaccinium tenellum, 
Lobelia, 
Campanula, 
Ash, 

Apocynum, 
Asclepias, 
Gentiana, 



Phlox. 

Heilotropium, 

Lithospermum, 



rious ; horses, on eating, 
become paralytic. 

Dent de lion. 

Spearmint. 

Pennyroyal. 

Peppermint. 

Indian arrow. 

Red willow, swamp dog- 
wood ; the liber is used by 
the Sauks for smoking, 
_ called Kinicanik. 

Thoroughwort, boneset. 

Buttercup. 



River bank grape vine. 
Hawkweed. 

The sugar whortleberry. 

Several var. 

Bellflower. 

Fraxinus. 

Indian hemp. 

Wild cotton, swallowwort. 

Gentian, 8 var. : the lutea, 
most esteemed in medi- 
cine, not one. 

Turnsol. 

Several species. The roots 



PLANTS. 



285 



Myosotis, 

Hydrophyllum, 

Lycopus, 

Monarda, 

Hedeoma, 

Solanum nigrum triflorum, 

Physalis, 

Pentstemon, 



Mimuliis, 

Gratiola, 

Veronica, 

Pedicularis, 

Verbena, 

Lysimachia, 

Glaux maritima, 

Utricularia, 

Plantago, 

Amaranthus, 

Chenopodium, 

Salsola, 

Salicornia, 

Rumex, 

Polygonum, 

Laurus benzoin, 

Eleagnus argentea, 



of some afford a lac for 
dyeing and painting. 
Scorpion grass. 
Water leaf. 
Water horehound. 
Mountain balm. 
Wild pennyroyal. 
Nightshade. 
Ground cherry. 
Several species. The grandi- 
florum, a beautiful species 
about 3 feet high, is found 
at Prairie Du Chien and 
other points. 
Monkey flower. 
Hedge hyssop. 
Speedwell. 
Lousewort. 
Vervain. 
Loosestrife. 
Saltwort. 
Bladderwort. 
Plantain, 5 var. 
Amaranth, prince's feather. 
Goosefoot, wormseed. 
Saltwort. 
Glasswort. 
Dock, 4 var. 

40 var. (Persic, buckwheat). 
Spicebush. 

Oleaster. A shrub from 8 
to 12 feet high, producing 



286 



APPENDIX. 





a dry, farinaceous, edible 




drupe, about the size of a 




small cherry. 


Shepherdia arg., 


Similar to above, called by 




the natives rabbit berry. 




Berries small, red, cluster- 




ed, succulent, acid. 


Euphorbia, 


Resembling cactus, 5 var. 


Callitriche, 


Water star. 


Urtica, 


Nettle. 


Parietaria, 


Pellitory. 


Morus rubra, 


Red mulberry. 


Ulmus Americana, 


American elm. 


" Fulva, 


Slippery elm. 




Also one or two other species. 


Ostrya, 


Hop-horn-beam. 


Salix, 


Willow, many species. 


Quercus, 


Oak, many var. ; white, red. 




black, mountain, overcup 




white oak, burr, chinqua- 




pin, &c. 


Juniperus, 


Juniper. 


Sisyrinchium, 


Blue-eyed grass. 


Cypripedium. 




Convallaria, 


Lily of the valley. 


Uvularia, 


Lily, yellow lily. 


Allium stel., 


Garlic. 


" angulosum. 




Er)rthronium, 


Dog's tooth violet. 


Trillium, 


American herb Paris. 


Smilax, 


Green briar. 


Triglochin, 


Arrow grass. 


Potamogeton, 


Pond weed. 





PLANTS. 5io7 


Arum, 


Wake robin. 


Sparganium, 


Burr reed. 


Juncus, 


Rush, 4 var. 


Trade scantia, 


Spiderwort. 


Alisma, 


Water plantain. 


Cyperus, 


Cypress grass. 


Dulichium. 




Scirpus, 


Club rush. 


Carex, 


Sedge, 10 var. 


Alopecurus, 


Foxtail grass. 


Panicum, 


Panic grass. 


Stipa, 


Silk grass, feather grass, long 




awned grass. 


Agrostis, 


Bent grass. 


Poa, 


Meadow grass, 4 var. 


Festuca, 


Fescue grass. 


Bromus, 


Brome grass. 


Triticum wheat, 


Dog wheat. 


Elymus, 


Wild rye. Also, a new spe- 




cies of Ely. Or a new ge- 




nus between rye and bar- 




ley. 



Atheropogon. 

Sesleria, 

Lepturus. 

Crypsis, 

Beckmannia, 

Andropogon, 

Struthiopteris, 

Equisetum, 

Baptisia tinctoria. 

Podophyllum, 



Moor grass. 

Thorn grass. 

Arrow grass. 

Beard grass. 

Fern. 

Horsetail. 

Wild indigo. 

May apple, otherwise called 



288 



APPENDIX. 



Silene, 

Ladies' slipper. 
Cassia marilandica, 
Datura stramonium, 

Black root. 
Rattlesnake's master 
Jerusalem artichoke 
Hamulus lupulus, 
Hazel. 

Oxycoccus macrocarpus, 
" hispidulus, 



mandrake, wild 
duck's foot. 
Wild pink. 



lemon. 



American senna. 
Devil's apple, Jamestown 
weed, thorn apple. 



Hop. 

The red cranberry. 

White do., similar to 

gaultheria, or partridge 
berry, called mountain tea, 
used as substitute. 



Acer, Maple. 

" Sugar Maple. 
Juglans, 

" Scaly Bark Hickory, J. Cortice squamosa. 

" Pignut Hickory. 

" Bitternut Hickory. 

" Swamp Hickory. 
Black Walnut. 

White Walnut ; or. Butternut, Juglans cinerea. 
Locust, black. 
** white. 
" honey. 
Cedar, red. 
Pinus, Pine. 

" white. 

" yellow. 



PLANTS. 



289 



Pinus, black. 

'* spruce. 
Prickly Ash, Xantlioxyllum 
Wild Plum. 
Wild Cherry. 
Crab Apple. 
Raspberry. 
Blackberry. 
Dewberry. 
Sumach, Rhus 
Hemp. 
Isopyrum. 

Actaea rubra. 

Uvaria triloba. 

Leontice. 

Corydulis. 

Dielytra. 

Sisymbrium. 

Stanleya. 

Capsella. 

Polanisia. 

Hudsonia. 

Claytonia, Chickweed. 

Xanthoxyllum, Amer. 

Rhus triloba. 

Sida, coc. 

Hosachia. 

Oxytropis. 

Phaea. 

Homalobus. 

Desmodium. 

Schranbia. 

Darlingtonia. 

14 



Fraxi 



neum. 



Pencedanum. 
Polyta3nia. 

Osmorhiza. 

Syraphoricarpus. 

Vernonia 

Liatris. 

Kuhnia. 

Boltonia. 

Gutierrizzia. 

Aplopappus. 

Grindelia. 

Chrysopsis. 

Silphium. 

Tva axil. 

Echinacea. 

Rudbechia. 

Lepachis. 

Copeopsis tinct. 

Dysodia. 

Gaillardia. 

Hymenophyllus. 

Antennaria, everlasting. 



290 



APPENDIX. 



Chamaerodos. 

Geum. 

Amelanchier. 

Gaura, coc. 

Menzelia, orn. 

Zizia, aur. 

Thaspium. 

Navarelia. 

Convolvulus stans. 

Evolvulus Arg. 

Echinospermum . 

Onosmodium. 

Ellisia. 

Lophantus. 

Physostegia. 

Androcera. 

Chelone. 

Monniera. 

Gerardia. 

Othocarpus. 

Castilleja. 

Orobanche. 

Oxybaphus, Umbrella Wort. 

Kochia. 

Obione. 

Atriplex. 



Cirsium, 4 var 

Nabalus, 3 var. 

Lygodesmia. 

Troximon. 

Fore sti era. 

Acerates, vir. flo. 

Collomia. 

Comandra. 

Peristylus. 

Spiranthes. 

Ammianthium. 

Zigadenus, Helonias. 

Elocharis. 

Muhlenbergia. 

Vilfa. 

Calamagrostis, 

Arundo. 

Spartina. 

Aristida. 

Catabrosa. 

Koeleria. 

Glyceria. 

Uniola. 

Polypodium. 

Asplemum. 

Marsilea. 



DISTANCES, ELEVATION AND LATITUDE. 



291 



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292 



APPENDIX. 



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3 







DISTANCES, ELEVATION AND LATITUDE. 293 

(D.) — Continued. 



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§^o.>p:;c^-S ctSi^*^ i-c^^'^^i^S ^^.-^^ ^^ c a.§ °5 ^cS-l 






294 



APPENDIX. 



(D.) — Continued. 



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DISTANCES, ELEVATION AND LATITUDE. 



295 



(D.) — Continued. 






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296 



APPENDIX. 



O 



m 
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(D.) — continued. 




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tCJOOf2(2>5^S.i5S^^2tfS AhP. 



* ♦ 



DISTANCES, ELEVATION AND LATITUDE. 



297 



O 



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(D) — Continued. 



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pQQQQQOQ 






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sii 



298 



APPENDIX. 



^ 



J>2 



(D.) — Continued. 



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h-1 



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DISTANCES, ELEVATION AND LATITUDE. 



299 



?J0 









Jo 



CO 



Is 


(D.) — Continued. 

'c o d o' c c o' d d d d 
.oppp GQ p ft ft ftft 


_'o 
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0) 

6 

o 


Ol 
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a 
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94° 9' 0" 
94 11 
94 11 

94 10 

95 33 


a; 

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a 
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h. m. s. 

G 16 3G 
G IG 44 
6 IG 44 
6 IG 40 

6 IS 12 


s 

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LC O CO O' CO CI O O Ci o 
TT Tj< CO CI »n O TT -:t< 

I'—r-cO' CO CO CO r-i t- -?j<ri< 
' o CI CJ mm 

o 

'^-^-H "^^ '^ T:t< CO <n ^ 

"^ "^ "^ "^"^ "^ *^ "^ TpT^ 


•O0IX9I/\[ 
JO JP^O 

9q; 9AoqR 
sapmpiY 


Feet. 

• 
2,046 




Places of observation. 


Ridge dividing the head-waters of St. Peter's and 
Tchan-kasndata, or Sioux River, at the head of the 
Coteau des Prairies - - . - 

Station at the fork of Chetambey River 

Lac aux Jones, — Little Rock River - 

Mini-sotah Lake (Lac a PEau Claire of the French) - 

Mouth of Riviere Le Sueur, on Mankato, or Blue 
Earth River . . . . . 

Blue-earth Locality, on the left bank of Mankato River 

Station on the left bank of Mankato River, between 
the Watonwan River and Blue-earth Locality 

Mouth of Watonwan River, on the left bank of Man- 
kato River ------ 

Man-yah Kichaksey, or Cut Cliff; or I'Ecore Coupee 
of the French - . - - . 

Station on the left bank of Mankato River, between 
Man-yah and Repah Kichaksey 

Hauska Lake, or Long Lake, eastern end 



300 



APPENDIX. 



(D.) — Continued. 



c^ 





o 
■5 

3 
< 


Nicollet. 

D. W. Gocbel. 
Lewis and Clarke. 

Nicollet. 

Lewis and Clarke. 
Nicollet, 
do. 
do. 
Major Long's first ex- 
pedition. 
Nicollet. 

Lewis and Clarke. 
Nicollet. 


O 


Longitudes 
in arc 


90^ 13' 45" 
91 7 9 

91 40 15 

92 49 30 
92 41 30 

94 20 15 
94 44 


North lati- 
tudes. 


38° 50' 50" 

38 33 5S 
38 41 40 

38 42 57 
38 35 
38 47 7 

38 57 18 

39 19 
39 9 33 

39 11 43 
39 5 25 

39 22 40 


i •oDixaj\[ 
JO jpo aq; 
9AoqB sapn^mv 


sj 00 o o 
!i)00 II IIICOll IIt-, 
JO C^ O c- 


Estimated dis- 
tances by water. 


•ooixap\[ 

JO Jl"f) 
aq; mo.ij 


*» 00 CO cocoor-oao ooo 

^ 1—1 rH r-(<— li— li— ii-Hi-H i-Hi— lr-( 


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o; aoe|d 

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S 1 1 O O O O v-O CT! 00 OJ o o 

•^ o j-H oi CO CI cc r- CJ c> CO 




( 

'■i 

1 

i 
< 

i 
< 

c 

( 
( 
( 

p 


D 

3 



3 

n 

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Mouth of Missouri River, the south bank, 

18 miles above St. Louis 
Goebel's residence, near Newport, F'rank- 

lin county, Missouri - - - . 
Gasconade River, the mouth - 
Portland, Callaway county, Missouri, 

left bank of Missouri River 
Osage River, the mouth 
Nashville, Boone county, left bank 
Boonville, Cooper county, right bank 
Grand River, southwest of the mouth - 
Old Fort Osage, right bank - 

Lower Liberty landing - - . . 
Kansas River, the mouth . - . 
Fort Leavenworth, the landing-place 



DISTANCES, ELEVATION AND LATITUDE. 301 

(D). — Continued. 



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m 



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a 
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to 



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302 



APPENDIX. 



(D.) — Continued. 



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CO 

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econd range 
bird range 
! mile below 
le left bank. 


nd White Ri 
he Black Zoi 
he upland, o 
lite River, tl 
beginning o 
one mile be 
teau, on the 


1^ 

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land a 
op oft; 
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or VVl 
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River, 
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c: 


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CO 


Man 
Low 
Dry 
Fort 




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lOv% 












HECKMAN 

BINDERY INC. 

#1989 
N. MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 46962 




'b9 





LIBRARY OF 



CONGRESS 




005 378 528 



